The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig is the story of 35-years-old Nora Seed, who is struggling with her job, relationships and life in general. Her life is full of "𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩-𝙞𝙛𝙨" Lately, Nora had been having a lot of regrets about her life decisions; of giving up on singing, leaving his brother's band, of not going on a coffee date with a friend, of leaving his dad's dream of becoming a champion swimmer, giving up on her own dreams and so on...
Nora has been living a depressed life with the slightest knowledge about it. She feels lonely and has a cat named Volts...
Things might keep going like this but the final nail in the coffin was the sudden death of her cat and losing her job. One of the few last things she was holding on to live a life were also gone now. And that's when she decides to die, to give up on trying and free herself from the shackles of a life that's nothing more than a failure.
ＥＱＵＩＤＩＳＴＡＮＴ.
That was how she felt most of her life. Caught in the middle. Struggling, flailing, just trying to survive while not knowing which way to go. Which path to commit without regret.
With a heavy heart, Nora pens down a note for her brother and takes a handful of sleeping pills...
And just when Nora thought she would be free from all the regrets of her life little she knew she would have to face and deal with them.
Between life and death, she is caught up in a library full of shelves running with books. She finds someone else also in that library.. someone who comforted her in times of despair, someone who's going to help her in ways she wouldn't know till the end.
The books in The Midnight Library are all about various lives Nora could have lived if she made a different decision at some point in her life. And so she gets a chance to live then now!
In one life, she owns a pub in the country, in another, she's a famous musician loved by millions. In one life, she is a glaciologist, in another, she is an Olympic athlete, an animal rescuer, swimmer and so on... The midnight library presents Nora a chance to undo all her regrets, to live EVERY life she ever wanted and stay in the one she pleases.
Yet,
𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐮𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲.
Matt Haig has tried to teach us a few things through the innumerable lives of Nora in The Midnight Library.
He wants us to know that sometimes we take so many things for granted especially the positive impact we have on others' lives. Our lives aren't only about US, it's also about how our little actions affect someone else's life in a positive way.
We are the ones limiting our abilities even when we are born with so much talent and capabilities.
We might think that we have reached the threshold of our patience. Giving up and dying might seem like the only option but that's not how everything falls into place... 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙣 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚
You might think only something special will make your life worth living...
While in reality,
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠.
What I really loved about The Midnight Library was how Matt Haig related Nora's present life with her childhood experiences and her upbringing. How parents play an important role in forming a child's sense of self. And how failures on the part of parents can result in disasters for their children later in life.
Matt Haig made a point through Nora's life that It's never too late to pursue a dream and you don't need a permission slip for that. If you love doing something. Just Go For It. That's where you should invest all your energy and efforts. Following someone else's dreams won't help you gain their love and appreciation for a long time.
This is your life and you should live it the way you want without feeling obliged to impress the people around you or gain their approval.
The Midnight Library was 1000/10 for me💯❤️ I enjoyed every bit of reading this book and all the lessons it had to offer.
Would highly recommend this to every one of you🥺❤️