The Midnight Library – Matt Haig
‘Between life and death there is a library and within that library, the shelves go on forever’
Matt Haig is a complete genius. I have read, and loved, a few of his non-fiction books but this is my first foray into his fiction reads. It is a masterclass.
Nora Seed is lost. Her cat has just died, she is jobless and feels alone in a world where no one seems to need nor want her. Nora Seed has many regrets, so many that the weight of them seem so hard to bear that she decides to take her own life. This isn’t a spoiler for those wondering, it is the premise and principle on which the whole book sits. On this fated evening at exactly 00:00, she finds herself in the Midnight Library.
Surrounded by books and with the guidance of her old high-school librarian, Nora learns that every book in the library is a different version of a life she could have led if she had made different choices; an infinity of new chances. By choosing a book, she would be able to slip into that life and live there for a while, or forever, if she decided that was the life for her.
Nora slips briefly in and out of different lives. Some in which big dreams are realised and in others, only small victories are achieved. None ever stick and ultimately, she keeps landing back in the library. All the stories in the books of her lives seem to leave Nora feeling disappointed or un-fulfilled.
Not only is this novel superbly written with it’s gorgeous, streamlined plotline, there is so much under the surface of this book which speaks directly to the heart. Depression, anxiety, heartbreak and loss are all interwoven into the story, without being explicitly spoken about. This is Haig’s gift; a storyteller so magnificent that the lessons we learn are silent and profound.
As humans we have all been had moments of ‘What if’. If we had made different choices would our lives be so unequivocally different? Would we be happier? Richer? More content? Could a single decision change our fate? Nora’s narrative helps us explore truths about ourselves and evokes acceptance and love for the lives we lead.
Haig’s own journey with his mental health means that he expertly writes with the undercurrents of deep understanding of how fragile human life can be.
What makes this book so brilliant — and so effectively accessible — is that Nora is never presented as someone who has made terrible mistakes or is a failure. She is also never presented as a perfect character on whom life has acted cruelly. She is just so ‘normal’. I saw myself in her narrative. We have all had Nora’s thoughts at one time or another. Nora is as wonderfully flawed as the rest of us and that’s why reading her is so easy.
As Nora moves onward from book to book, life to life, she begins to realise that maybe it isn’t about choices and regrets, but rather, the perception of the life you already have and the acceptance that nothing is perfect. Ultimately, this is a story of hope.
Modern life, particularly on social media, portrays idealism in a meteorically un-healthy way. We view life through a rose-coloured lens and base our happiness on the photoshopped-filtered lives of people we don’t know and lives un-lived.
We always seem to be wishing or hoping for something different. ‘If I just had more money, I’d be happier’. ‘If I was just thinner, I would be in a fulfilling relationship’. ‘If I had the job of my dreams everything would be ok’.
The truth is, nothing changes unless we change our perception to it. That is the beauty of Nora’s final realisation and the exquisite and simple lesson of this extraordinary book. What Nora has failed to understand in her ‘root life’ is how much she is needed and loved.
Although much of the novel is set in a ‘fantastical’ scenario, never once does it feel twee or childlike, quite the opposite. Haig’s writing of Nora and the nuances of her personality make you root for her from the beginning. You see the realisations at the same time as her, you feel her pain and joy, you are taken full-circle from desperation to enlightenment. It is gorgeous and real.
There are many quotes in this book I could have used to end this review. Haig laced so much of this story with not only his own wisdom, but the wisdom of ancient philosophers. However, I will depart with this:
“The only way to learn is to live”
Concise. Beautiful. Honest.
Grab your Library card and spend an hour or two in the Midnight Library; you will be transformed.
- Katie D xx
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