Genre – Sci-fi, Magical realism, Fantasy fiction
Author – Matt Haig
If you are lucky enough to have read anything else by the wonderful Matt Haig, then you will know that mental health is a running theme throughout his writing. His outstanding book “Reasons to stay alive” is a telling of his own personal experiences battling depression and anxiety.
The Midnight Library is a fictional story which transports us to a space nestled between life and death that allows us to explore the meaning of life, the theme of regrets, philosophy and overall what exactly it is that makes life worth living.
This is a wonderful story about how every choice we make affects our lives in some way and learning to let go of regrets and “what ifs”. It is a story of love, loss, philosophy and self-acceptance sprinkled with just the right amount of magical realism to bring something spectacular to the story.
Nora Seed is miserable. She has lives what she has deemed an unfulfilling life and is now sitting firmly at rock bottom. The loss of her cat sends her spiralling out of control and the temptation of suicide leaves her standing outside the Midnight Library, and inside is her school librarian, Mrs Elm. The library is full to the brim of books, floor to ceiling, wall to wall – thousands and thousands of books – all of which, Mrs Elm explains, are filled with alternative possibilities of Nora’s life, had she made different decisions.
“You see, doing one thing differently is very often the same as doing everything differently. Actions can’t be reversed within a lifetime, however much we try…”
Nora takes the opportunity to explore the options the library has to offer and is told that she will stay in each new life she chooses until she is no longer happy, at which point she will immediately be transported back to the library to try again. It doesn’t take long for her to realise that some choices are without a doubt harder to make than others and often making a different choice results in ramifications that she did not expect. Throughout the entire book I found myself rooting for Nora, desperately wanting her to find the happy life she is searching for.
“…sometimes the only way to learn is to live”
All in all, I really loved this book. I found it as comforting as it was thought provoking and I came away from it with a head full of my own regrets and a sense of wanting to tackle them head on. Haig is a brilliant writer and always tackles mental health issues with delicacy and care and this book was no exception to that. I know this is going to be one of those stories that I come back to over and over again when I need to remind myself that everything happens for a reason. I can’t give this book anything other than 5 stars. It left me with a full heart, a warm sense of comfort and a determination to look inwardly at myself and my own regrets. I can’t thank Matt Haig enough for writing this book and I am very happy to have it on my shelf.
“Sometimes just to say your own truth out loud is enough to find others like you.”
