The Midnight Library
First edition
AuthorMatt Haig
LanguageEnglish
PublisherCanongate Books
Publication date
13 August 2020
ISBN978-0-525-55948-1
OCLC1255441549

The Midnight Library is a fantasy novel by Matt Haig, published on 13 August 2020 by Canongate Books.[1] It was abridged and broadcast on BBC Radio 4 over ten episodes in December 2020.[2]

The novel follows a 35-year-old British woman unhappy in her dead-end life who is given the opportunity to experience lives she might have had if she had made different choices.

Plot

Nora Seed is unhappy with her choices in life as a sixteen-year-old and remains unhappy nineteen years later. Her best friend is in Australia, she just got fired and her cat just died, and she feels like she’s useless. During the night, she tries to kill herself but ends up in a limbo library managed by her school librarian, Mrs. Elm. The library is situated between life and death with millions of books filled with stories of her life had she made some different decisions. In this library, with Mrs. Elm's help, she tries to find the life in which she's the most content.[3] However, the only lives she can access are those that are possible, so she can’t find a life where her cat is alive (due to his restrictive cardiomyopathy).

In one possible life, she reunites with her boyfriend and finds herself married to him, but it is not the way she expected. Her life where she lives in Australia to be with her friend is a failure as she had died in that universe years prior. She then tries a possible life where she becomes an Olympic swimmer. However, she finds it unfulfilling and messes up her TED talk. She also sees herself as a glaciologist doing research in the Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic – a very different life from the one she tried to escape, but not necessarily a better choice.

In this life, she meets another limbo traveler, Hugo Lefevre, who’s used to traveling around different lives and has a brief relationship with him. Her face down with a polar bear makes her realize she doesn’t really want to die as much as she thought she did. Her next life features her in a successful band, yet its glories fade when she finds out her brother died years ago and that she’s broken up with a famous movie star whom she idolised in her root life.

She experiences several other lives with several other people, finally settling on a life where she majors in Philosophy and is married to Ash, a surgeon who bought guitar books from Nora in her root life. This life, by far, seems the best of the lot, but she remains terrified of returning to the limbo library. She notices that a boy she tutored in piano is now constantly in trouble because there was no piano tutor to help him, the neighbor she supplied with medicine doesn’t know her, and she feels completely lost.

She returns to the limbo library, which is breaking down, and writes I AM ALIVE in a book. She returns to life and everything is magically better, her brother comes to visit, she plans on talking to Ash and resumes her piano lessons. She finally meets her former librarian in a nursing home and the two play a game of chess.

Reception

The Midnight Library was named a bestseller by The New York Times bestseller,[4] The Boston Globe,[5] and The Washington Post.[6] Good Morning America selected it as a Book Club Pick.[7]

Booklist[8] and BookPage[9] gave the book a starred review. The Book Reporter[10] and The Arts Desk[11] raved about it. The book also received positive reviews from The New York Times,[12] The Guardian,[13] ZYZZYVA,[14] The Scotsman,[15]The Sunday Times,[16] Library Journal,[17] Kirkus Reviews,[4]The Washington Post,[18] Publishers Weekly,[19] and Post Independent.[20] NPR gave a mixed review.[21]

The book was also included in "Best of" lists from The Christian Science Monitor,[22] Amazon,[23] PureWow,[24] She Reads,[25] Lit Hub, St. Louis Public Radio, and The Washington Post.[11]

Awards for The Midnight Library
Year Award Result Ref.
2020 Goodreads Choice Award for Fiction Winner [26]
Audie Award for Fiction Nominee [27]
2021 British Book Award "Fiction book of the year" Shortlist [28]

The Midnight Library was adapted for radio and broadcast in ten episodes on BBC Radio 4 in December 2020.[29][30]

References

  1. ↑ "Title: The Midnight Library".
  2. ↑ Reader: Bryony Hannah; Abridger and Producer: Jeremy Osborne (December 2020). "The Midnight Library by Matt Haig". The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. BBC. BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  3. ↑ Pulley, Natasha (27 August 2020). "The Midnight Library by Matt Haig review – a celebration of life's possibilities". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
  4. 1 2 "The Midnight Library". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  5. ↑ "Local bestsellers for the week ending July 11". The Boston Globe. 15 July 2021. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  6. ↑ "Washington Post hardcover bestsellers". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  7. ↑ "'The Midnight Library' is the 'GMA' October 2020 Book Club pick: Read an excerpt". Good Morning America. 29 September 2020. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  8. ↑ Wathen, LynnDee (August 2020). The Midnight Library. Retrieved 22 September 2021 – via Booklist.
  9. ↑ Freedenberg, Harvey (October 2020). "Book Review - The Midnight Library by Matt Haig". BookPage.com. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  10. ↑ Palen, Ray (2 October 2020). "Review: The Midnight Library". The Book Reporter. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  11. 1 2 "The Midnight Library: A Novel". IndieBound. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  12. ↑ Fowler, Karen Joy (29 September 2020). "In 'The Midnight Library,' Books Offer Transport to Different Lives". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  13. ↑ Pulley, Natasha (27 August 2020). "The Midnight Library by Matt Haig review – a celebration of life's possibilities". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  14. ↑ Ordukhani, Nessa (1 December 2020). "'The Midnight Library' by Matt Haig: All That Could Have Been". ZYZZYVA. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  15. ↑ McMillan, Joyce (28 August 2020). "Book review: The Midnight Library by Matt Haig". The Scotsman. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  16. ↑ Critchley, Ian. "The Midnight Library by Matt Haig, review — the power of books to change lives". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  17. ↑ Alessi, Stacy; M., Eugene; E., Christine (1 October 2020). "The Midnight Library". Library Journal. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  18. ↑ "Review | Now that you've read 'The Midnight Library,' let's talk about the ending". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  19. ↑ "Fiction Book Review: The Midnight Library by Matt Haig". Publishers Weekly. 8 July 2020. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  20. ↑ Vidakovich, Mike (7 September 2021). "Vidakovich column: 'The Midnight Library' is a good read". Post Independent. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  21. ↑ Sheehan, Jason (3 October 2020). "It's Not Quite Dark Enough In 'The Midnight Library'". NPR. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  22. ↑ "See the world differently with the best fiction books of 2020". Christian Science Monitor. 9 December 2020. ISSN 0882-7729. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  23. ↑ "Editors' Picks". Amazon. October 2020. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  24. ↑ Stiefvater, Sarah (21 December 2020). "The 20 Best Books PureWow Staffers Read in 2020". PureWow. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  25. ↑ "What BookSparks Reads: Best Books of 2020". She Reads. 3 December 2020. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  26. ↑ "Announcing the Goodreads Choice Winner in Best Fiction!". Goodreads. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  27. ↑ Haig, Matt (29 September 2020). The Midnight Library. Penguin. ISBN 978-0-525-55948-1.
  28. ↑ "The British Book Awards 2021 Winners". Waterstones. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  29. ↑ Writer: Matt Haig; Reader: Bryony Hannah; Abridger & Producer: Jeremy Osborne (7 December 2020). "The Midnight Library by Matt Haig". The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. BBC. BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
  30. ↑ "Books of the Year: Fiction". British Book Awards 2021. The Bookseller. Archived from the original on 12 May 2021. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
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