The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
Matt Haig’s books have the most interesting premises.
In The Humans, his lead character is a body-snatching alien who occupies the body of a human. It turns out that the human wasn’t a very nice man, which the alien who now inhabits his body discovers when sent to hide evidence that the human has found the solution to a difficult math problem. The alien finds himself learning all about humans and has to decide between finishing his mission and going home or staying to find a new home here on earth.
In How to Stop Time, Tom Hazard is an apparently 41-year-old high school teacher, who returned to his hometown to settle down and become a history teacher. On his first day at school, he meets a captivating French teacher, and love seems to be the order of the day. But Tom is hiding a secret: he has a rare condition that has kept him alive for centuries (no wonder he knows his history so well….). Unfortunately, the first rule of The Albatross Society, a secret group that protects people like Tom is ‘Don’t fall in love.’
I have read neither of these books, yet. But I was so taken by The Midnight Library, which I have read, that I immediately added both to my TBR when I finished reading it. It was just that enjoyable.
The premise for The Midnight Library is no less interesting than Haig’s other books: somewhere in the moment between life and death, there is a library where the shelves go on forever. They hold books that show a different life, the life that you would have lived if you had made a different choice at any given point. And as Nora Seed finds herself in the library, perusing the shelves, she is faced with the possibility that she could change her life and choose a new one, one where she had done things differently. She can become a glaciologist, an Olympic swimmer, or any different career. There are second chances with relationships, more opportunities to try again, and infinite chances to find and attain her dreams. And as she searches the Midnight Library she will explore what it means to live a fulfilling life.
As incredible as the premise, Haig’s execution of Nora’s story is even better.
Nora searches the library, running into and out of many lives, falling out of them as she finds herself dissatisfied with them. With each life, we learn, and Nora learns, more about herself and why she is who she is…and I hesitate to say much more without spoiling too much of the story.
To be fair, there were moments when I felt like Nora was perhaps too talented, too intelligent, and too wealthy…but of course, she would have options. Why wouldn’t she? Of course, she has mental health problems but perhaps it’s because of all these privileges, not in spite of them. And yet, Haig’s telling is that it doesn’t matter what are privileges are—or aren’t: it’s that it is as long as we are alive we have potential, and that each moment is filled with infinite possibilities to influence and build and improve the world, even with the small and seemingly inconsequential things we do. As I have heard it said, each moment is a molecule that makes up eternity, even if it is sometimes hard to see this without looking back.
Sure, it’s a simple story, but Haig’s fascinating premise and excellent telling create an inspiring package, a story that inspired me. I look forward to reading his other novels, as well, soon.
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