by Matt Haig
Paperback, £9.99
This novel was published in 2020, and is an antidote to the stress caused by life’s inevitable uncertainties. Haig had me thinking about what actually matters, beyond all the specific choices we all make.
The Midnight Library follows music shop assistant and cat owner Nora Seed, who has had enough of living, as she is given the opportunity to try out all the paths she hasn’t taken. We learn about the careers she missed out on, the relationships that failed, and the travels she didn’t go on. The beginning of the novel paints a bleak picture: everything that could have gone wrong for Nora has done so. However, as Nora tries out each of the lives she could’ve lived, she slowly realises that maybe the things that made her feel like a failure in her original life were not actually as important as she thought.
Haig’s writing is comforting and easy to follow, whilst also being sparky and intriguing. The Midnight Library provides a cosy dose of magical realism and I found it made a nice change from some of the heavier and grittier stories about self-discovery that I’ve come across recently. Nora is given a guide in her journey through different lives – her old school librarian, Mrs Elm – who is a grounding and reassuring figure for both Nora and the reader.
This is a gentle read that I would recommend to anyone who is in a reading slump – it is an uplifting book that might make everything feel a little lighter.
Review by Jamie