Shandi Sturgill

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig tells the story of Nora Seed. After experiencing several heartbreaks Nora finds herself in the space between life and death. This space takes the form of a library, and on its expansive shelves are multiple books. Contained in each of these is an alternate version of Nora’s life. She is allowed to peruse the books which put her into what her life would be had she made different choices. But will this knowledge intensify her discontent, or revitalize her passion for living? 

I loved this book. Every so often you come across a piece of art that matches where you are in your life. That really speaks to what you are feeling and experiencing. This book was that for me. 

I enjoyed the premise of this novel, and that each of Nora’s alternate lives is presented in a book. I thought this was very clever, and a great way to allow us to enter all these different situations and environments. Nora is also an interesting protagonist. I think many people will be able to relate to her feelings of being stuck and unsure of your life’s direction. 

There are a lot of great themes in this book. A personal favorite being the question of if achieving your wildest dream would be the key to making you happy. It can be so easy to fixate on the paths not taken in life. To sit and contemplate that if you had made some different choices and landed in another town or career that you would be happy. I enjoyed that this book proposes that fixating on this is what takes the joy out life. That we put so much store in goals, regrets, and ambitions that we forget what it is to just live.   

Another theme that really resonated with me was Nora realizing she has to relearn who she is. After attempting multiple versions of her life, she notices that she is perusing lives that adhere to other’s goals for her. For example, being an Olympic swimmer like her father wished. I found this an interesting way to uncover more about Nora’s character. This realization changes her course and helps her reach her final destination in the story.

 I highly recommend this book. It will make you think about the variety of life, and how often we take it for granted. If you enjoy character driven stories with a lot of wisdom to offer, I think you would enjoy this novel.