The Midnight Library
Since its publication in fall 2020, Matt Haig’s THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY has become not only a #1 New York Times bestseller, but a full-fledged global literary phenomenon. This immensely popular novel—a wildly inventive blend of literary and speculative fiction— spent more than 100 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, was a Good Morning America book club pick, won the Goodreads Choice Award for Best Fiction, and received rave reviews from The New York Times, People, and more. It was named a Best Book of 2020 by The Washington Post, the New York Public Library, and Amazon, and the audiobook, narrated by Carey Mulligan, was an Audie Finalist for Fiction. At the end of 2022, THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY was in the top 10 most read books on Goodreads, the top 10 trending books on TikTok, the top 10 most-discussed book club books, and the #1 most-borrowed library book in cities across America, including New York, Boston, Houston, and Fairfax, VA.
THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY is still finding new readers, resonating worldwide as the kind of escapist fiction we’re craving as an antidote to constant bad news, an urgent, poignant look at life’s endless possibilities, and an important contribution to dialogue around mental health, wellness, and self-care. The book follows a depressed, aimless young woman named Nora on a journey through a magical library, where every book is a chance to undo her regrets and try on a different life. The questions the novel asks—What would happen if you could open a door to all the lives you could’ve led? Would you choose something different?—are relatable and evergreen, but also particularly applicable to our current moment.
What if there were a library that catalogued all your regrets—and opened the door to all the lives you could’ve led? What would happen if you could undo your choices, big and small, and change where you ended up? This is the situation that Nora Seed faces in THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY. When Nora—depressed and unsatisfied by her current life—finds herself in a magical library, somewhere beyond the edge of the universe, she has the chance to change everything. Confronted with an infinite number of possibilities, Nora must consider: Should she have stayed with her ex-fiancé? Stuck with playing in that rock band in case they hit it big? Moved to Australia with her best friend? Followed her dream of becoming a glaciologist? Gotten coffee with that cute neighbor? As she tries on these different lives, experimenting with the great what ifs of her existence, she discovers what is truly fulfilling in life, and what makes it worth living in the first place.
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Matt Haig is an internationally bestselling author well-known for his poignant perspectives on modern life; his works have been translated into over 40 languages. In 2018, Viking published his breakout novel, How to Stop Time, a time-traveling love story that was praised by the Washington Post, People, Esquire, and Bustle, and named a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice. Haig is also widely beloved for his nonfiction, including Reasons to Stay Alive, a memoir chronicling his struggle with depression (which Entertainment Weekly calls “a modern classic”) and Notes on a Nervous Planet, “a wonderfully perceptive chronicle of life in the always-on social media age” (The Guardian). THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY combines Haig’s talent for storytelling and immersive fantasy with his knack for honest exploration of emotionally complex issues like depression and anxiety.
We all have regrets—choices we could have made differently, paths we didn’t take, other lives we might’ve led. In his latest book, Haig manages to transform that simple fact into an engrossing and utterly relatable adventure that follows Nora from Antarctica to Australia to the English countryside, as she tries on different professions, homes, and relationships to find the one that fits best. Heartwarming and clever, THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY incorporates elements of the fantastic to tell the fundamentally human story of overcoming regret to embrace life and all of the messy unknowns that come with it.
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The Midnight Library by Matt Haig explores the theme of mental health, specifically focusing on depression and the concept of regret, as the main character, Nora, finds herself in a library where she can explore alternate versions of her life, stemming from a point where she was contemplating suicide due to feeling unfulfilled and burdened by her life choices.
If you or anyone you know are experiencing depression or thoughts of suicide, please consider the following resources:
Seminole State College of Florida, Counseling Office
NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness), Greater Orlando Chapter