posted on 13 Apr 2022

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

I chose this book to review because it was strongly recommended by a friend. I found the first 50 - 100 pages quite hard going , so would have given up, but I am so glad I didn’t as now it is one of my top 10 favourite books and would recommend it.

The story starts a little grimly as we learn about the life of Nora Seed, a 35 year old living in Bedford. On this one day everything in her life comes to a head when she loses her dead-end job in a guitar shop, her cat dies, her one piano student wants to stop coming to her lessons and her brother comes back to the place where they grew up to see his best friend but doesn’t even bother to text her to say he is in town. She walks away from her fiancé 2 days before their wedding etc. etc. She takes an overdose.

It could be very depressing - but it isn’t if you stick with it. Nora finds herself in this limbo place between life and death called The Midnight Library, run by her own School Librarian who had shown her such kindness when her Dad died when she was a teenager.

The Librarian had recognised how bright Nora was as she was training to be an Olympic Swimmer, a Philosopher or Philosophy Lecturer, a Glaciologist and a Band member which could have hit the big time. Or she could have married Dan and run a country pub and become a Mum.

In the Midnight Library every book is about the lives that Nora could have lived if she had made different decisions. She gets to try out these lives until she gets fed up and always ends up back at the library at midnight.

We can all relate to this premise that what would have happened if…?

Is the grass greener? Is everyone else doing better than us?

I loved this book and got addicted to it in the end. It was so interesting, warm, funny, sad and relatable.

Matt Haig has had several Sunday Times bestsellers including his autobiographical story ‘Reasons to Stay Alive’. This was written 15 years after he was 24 when a similar thing happened to him.  His message is that, if you have ever thought of suicide, there is hope, love, compassion and joy awaiting you at some time in the future.

 

Judy Foulsham  (Artist)

April 2022