Matt Haig: The Midnight Library, Canongate, paperback, 9781786892737

(German edition: Matt Haig: Die Mitternachtsbibliothek, Droemer, hardback)

 

I had to buy a copy of Matt Haig’s “The Midnight Library” to cast my own verdict since it has been such a huge bestseller internationally.  The storyline appealed to me and having just finished,  I can definitely see where the attraction of this book lies for so many in these rocky times. It is a life affirming book, a bit of a fairy tale/fable which makes you feel better about own mistakes or regrets. I liked it but it did not blow me away. 

We have all been faced with the question what would have happened if one had taken a different direction in one’s life. For Nora the list of failures and regrets becomes so enormous that depression and suicidal thoughts start to overtake her life. When she is transported to the Midnight Library on the brink of suicide which houses all the books of different outcomes of her previous life decisions and is run by the formidably librarian Mrs. Elm, she is given the chance to try on these other lives.  It is a warm, uplifting type of book offering food for thought and comforting affirmations. 

I was reminded of a book I read many years ago, “Hector and the Search for Happiness” by Francois Lelord,   which I  loved and can highly recommend if you liked “Midnight Library”.