The Midnight Library

 Book Review- The Midnight Library

Author- Matt Haig

Genre- Fiction

Last year I asked my Secret Santa from my book reading  group to send me a book written by Matt Haig and I was pleasantly surprised to receive not one, but two novels by this author. Just the tag line on the cover 'One Library. Infinite Lives' was enough to infuse me with a kind of urgency to read this one. I had read many positive reviews about this one and wanted to find out for myself if it lived up to all that hype. I read this book at a slow pace and took in every detail. This is a book that actually blew my mind. It is astounding in so many ways. Thank you my Secret Santa for this wonderful gift!  

The Midnight Library is insightful in a way whereby we actually scrutinize our own lives and wonder what we would do differently in our like like the protagonist Nora Seed. Right at the beginning, the reader is aware that this book will be a roller-coaster of emotions. It is about life between life and death. It is all about our choices and the regrets we have after making those choices. Nora Seed goes through depression and hurt throughout her life and finally decides to end her life. When she finds herself in between life and death, she finds herself in a library that allows her to chose different lives that she could have led if she had made different choices. This forms the premise of the novel.

As we move ahead, Nora explores different lives and sees herself realizing that  in every life she finds something amiss. You just cannot have a perfect life for yourself as desired. She experiences so many changes in her mind as she goes through different lives that she understands that the best life you can live is the one you are actually living. What you make of your life is up to you.

This book talks about depression, life goals, persistence and grit. It also has a way of connecting our lives with that of Nora Seed and questioning our lives. 

What is that we regret? 

What would we do differently if given a chance?

Would our decisions make our life story different than the one at present?

More than anything, there are some true gems that are strewn all though the pages. They make us sit up and take notice of something that we failed to notice. All through our lives we fail to take notice of the important things and focus on perfection. We fail to realize that life is not all black and white, we have to accommodate the greys and accept things that are beyond our control. In spite of all the insights we get while reading this book, let me make it clear that this novel is not preachy in any way. All it does is make you think. The what if scenarios keep popping up and we connect with the protagonist all along as if we are soul mates sailing in the same boat. This story is like a slice of life and it has the potential to put a mirror to our lives too. It gives us a realization of where we stand in life and how we have made good and not so good choices that have shaped our lives. This book is an inspirational read.

There are many lines that are worth a mention here, but I am just going to state a few lines that have stayed with me long after completing the novel. 'The paradox of volcanoes was that they were symbols of destruction but also life. Once the lava slows and cools, it solidifies and breaks down over time to become soil- rich, fertile soil. She wasn't a black hole ,she decided. She was a volcano.'

Here are some other thought-provoking lines from the book.

My verdict- This is a must read!