"The Midnight Library" by Matt Haig (Recap & Review)
Nora Seed is depressed. She still lives in her hometown, Bedford, and has just been fired from the music shop where she has been working for years. Life doesn't seem to mean anything to Nora anymore and she decides to take her own life. This is when she wakes up in the Midnight Library where she is met by her former librarian, Mrs Elms, from her early school years. The library is full of books that are all the possible lives Nora could have. Mrs Elms tells her that she can try out her different lives and stay in the one life that she really wants. First, Nora must look inside "The Book of Regrets" which is quite literally a book full of Nora's minor and major regrets throughout her life. This gives her some perspective as she goes to live out her many lives. In some of them she is an Olympian champion, a wife, mother, pub owner, or a famous musician. In one life she lives in Australia where she finds out that her best friend, Izzy, has died. In another life, her deceased father is alive. Nora tries out endless possible lives. Along the way, she has fewer regrets as she learns that no life is perfect. In every life, there is always some good and some bad. From Mrs Elms she learns that life is not meant to be understood but lived! When Nora is about to give up on the perfect life, she finally tries one out which is close to everything she ever wanted. She is dating the kind and dorky surgeon, Ash, and together they have a sweet girl, Molly. However, Nora feels like a fraud because she was just placed in this perfect life. It doesn't seem fair and no matter how hard she tries to stay in that perfect life, she still ends up back in the Midnight Library with Mrs Elms. This is when she realises that she no longer wishes to die. The premise of the Midnight Library is that it only exists as long as Nora wants it to. When she decides she wants to live, the library collapses, and she finds the final book which is her root life. The life she tried to take in the beginning of the novel. In the end, Nora has hope and she decides to live her life. She finally understands that she has the ability to create the life that she wants and she seeks out to do so!
The beginning of the novel was so depressing. It does make sense, since Nora herself is depressed. I even felt a bit depressed reading it. But then she lands in the Midnight Library. A stage between life and death. It is such an interesting concept. Reading about Nora's different lives was intriguing and I learned a lot. It made me think about my own regrets. Nora wrote a post on her Facebook account about how easy it is for us to imagine what we could have done. It's easy to point out our own mistakes, but we don't actually know how these other lives of ours would have turned out. There are just as many disappointments in life as there are happy moments. We need to focus on the good. Because it is there. We just need to wait for it. Pain does end and happy times do come. The Midnight Library is a book of hope. It is very real and I think anyone can relate to it in some ways. I think it teaches us to be kind to ourselves and others. We are all going through life and it is important to stop ourselves sometimes to appreciate what we have around us. We should surround ourselves with love. Love is what keeps us going. We all matter to someone. Nora ended her life in the beginning because she felt like no one loved her. In the end, she comes back to her life and learns that there are people who love and care for her. So The Midnight Library does have a good ending. Nora gets a new chance at life. She starts to appreciate the world around her and she takes control of her own life. She starts to live it for herself!
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