The Midnight Library: A book of many possibilities

Matt Haig’s Midnight Library is a book that starts with an intriguing premise — a woman, who has seemingly failed at everything, tries to end her life.

Nora is just another ordinary woman with an ordinary job at an ordinary store in Bedford, UK. Until she loses her cat, her job, and the only student in her music class, all in one whirlwind day. Weary from having battled depression and anxiety over the years, these events are the final straw, and she commits suicide.

What happens next in this story changes the way I perceive life. Nora finds herself in a limitless library, where time has stood still — at midnight. Every book in the library is a life that Nora would have lived if she had made different choices in parallel universes. In a bid to know the “what ifs”, she begins experiencing these lives one by one.

What follows is a beautiful journey of soul searching and personal growth. This book starts by recounting Nora’s regrets but soon turns into a celebration of her choices. Most importantly, this book instills the hope for a better future.

It’s very easy to mourn the lives you could’ve had — the education you could’ve pursued, the tattoo you could’ve gotten, the skydiving lessons you chose not to get, or the little puppy you could’ve adopted. Your life may be just as dark tomorrow as it is today, but there’s one thing that shines through it — potential.

This book touches on every aspect that makes us human, from regret to depression, to the compulsion to live for the dreams of others. It’s a master class that subtly nudges you in the right direction until you realise the true meaning of the Midnight Library.

Matt Haig has a wonderful knack for conveying that the extraordinary is, in fact, in the ordinary. Through Nora’s experiences, his words helped me find a newfound appreciation for the life I have.

“It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.”