From the same author of Reasons to Stay Alive, Matt Haig’s latest novel has been described as an uplifting book for its readers. Born in 1975, Matt Haig is an award-winning British author that writes novels in both fiction and non-fiction genres. Matt also crosses the line between children’s fiction and adult contemporary literature.
For his latest novel, The Midnight Library, the best-selling British author spent considerable time thinking about the big questions in life and the book is the result of it. With his own specific message that needed to be conveyed, he does so through this fictional character, Nora Seed who is dissatisfied with her life. The Midnight Library was released in late August 2020 where it quickly established as a New York Times bestseller.
The novel tells the story of Nora who had just lost her job and her cat is dead. She believes that her brother no longer cares about her. The depressed and desperate woman who is drifted away from her family and friends decided to write a farewell note and takes an overdose of antidepressants. The story gets excited from this point when she finds herself in a library. Instead of going to the afterlife, she was surrounded by extraordinary books. Those books have the ability to make her experience a countless number of new lives!
In this ‘library’, Nora was guided by Mrs. Elm, who happened to be her former school librarian. All she has to do is pull a book from the shelf and enter a new life she had never thought of. In a place that is full of possibilities, Nora experiences many versions of life where she was a country pub owner with her ex-boyfriend, as a researcher, and even as a rock star singing on the stage of stadiums full of screaming fans.
Through the many versions, Nora struggles to find the life that will make her happy.
Sources: Kirkus Review, Goodreads