The Midnight Library

A Novel

By: Matt Haig

Narrated by: Carey Mulligan

Length: 8 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's Summary

The number one New York Times best-selling worldwide phenomenon

Winner of the Goodreads Choice Award for Fiction

A Good Morning America Book Club Pick

Independent (London) 10 Best Books of the Year

"A feel-good book guaranteed to lift your spirits." (The Washington Post)

The dazzling favorite about the choices that go into a life well lived, from the acclaimed author of How to Stop Time and The Comfort Book.

Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another book for the other life you could have lived if you had made a different choice at any point in your life. While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any of these other lives truly be better?

In The Midnight Library, Matt Haig's enchanting blockbuster novel, Nora Seed finds herself faced with this decision. Faced with the possibility of changing her life for a new one, following a different career, undoing old breakups, realizing her dreams of becoming a glaciologist; she must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight Library to decide what is truly fulfilling in life, and what makes it worth living in the first place.

©2020 Matt Haig (P)2020 Penguin Audio

Critic Reviews

“A beautiful fable, an It’s a Wonderful Life for the modern age – impossibly timely when we are all stuck in a world we wish could be different.” (Jodi Picoult, author of My Sister's Keeper) 

“Haig’s latest (after the nonfiction collection Notes on a Nervous Planet, 2019) is a stunning contemporary story that explores the choices that make up a life, and the regrets that can stifle it. A compelling novel that will resonate with readers.” (Booklist starred review) 

 “Charming...[Matt Haig] will reward readers who take this book off the shelf.” (Publisher's Weekly)

Predictable from the Very START

"I normally only write a review if I feel strongly one way or the other (love it or hate it) about a novel. This is the first negative review I feel so strongly over enough to write it out. Firstly this type of tale has been recycled 150000 times before in different ways and in different formats. Its the I think my life sucks and want a better one and the universe decides to grant the wish only to have the character realize just how good they had it before..... the only thing that ever changes is what potrays ""the universe"" or the genie in the bottle. In this it's a library of books all written about this one character. Read the book...enter the new life. Its it's Jim Belushi In Mr destiny or one of the most well known tales A Christmas Carol. Its just another carbon copy of these. Yes I know we live in the age where nothing original gets created. This is the age of how well can you rip something off so either consumers don't notice or decide not to care. but this novel doesn't even do a good job of it.
The main character is hateful, ungrateful, judgemental and even seems this way after learning the same lesson Mr. scrooge himself learned only in the end of that story you believe scrooge is a changed man. I really cannot find a single redeeming attribute to this novel. The worst is that it adds nothing new to an already overdone tale and doesn't have a single character you can walk away enjoying or thinking on later.
my strong recommendation is not to waste the dollar or the time. instead go look up Mr. Destiny with Jim Belushi and you can pretty much say you read this without ever looking at a page or listening to a single minute. and at least in Mr destiny you enjoy Jim Belushi and have a few laughs. I mean how could you not, it's John Belushis brother for crying out loud. In short I say........ ITS A DUD BUD. "

Exceptional.

Honestly a spectacular read. It is nothing but vitamins and minerals, but it tastes like candy and leaves you feeling like a better person, somehow. Delicious.

This is it.

I’m always on the hunt for good books. Rarely do I find one. THIS IS IT. Stop browsing and read it. I feel like I have a new lease on life. Almost reactivated my Instagram just so I could share it on my story. Sent texts to every contact in my phone instead. My thumbs hurt from manically typing and my sister’s ears are probably bleeding because I’ve chirped at her “you have GOT to read this book” so many times.

Would You Choose A Different Life?

What would you do if you were given the opportunity to choose a different life from infinite possibilities? Matt Haig delves into those possibilities with this thought provoking and astounding story. Nora is in a space between life and death when she enters the Midnight Library. She is given the opportunity to try out different versions of her life from the limitless choices of books in the library. Each choice has a new set of consequences and she must decide if this is the life she wants. As she goes through choices (some lasting only a few minutes, others lasting days and weeks) she slowly realizes there is no "perfect" life. Before time runs out, she must choose which life she wants. This story will resonate differently for each person, but it will resonate. Carey Mulligan was lyrical in her performance of Matt Haig's brilliant and heartfelt story.

changes you and how you look at life

This book was so incredibly beautiful and soul-shifting. Listened in one day and already felt different halfway through. The philosophies of radical acceptance and gratitude for what is, hidden in the engaging story-telling, really sinks in. As someone who's suffered from depression, I felt utterly seen and lifted in this book. I read wanting to know what was next for Nora, and finished thinking about that question for myself. Thank you, Matt, for your careful weaving of magic, and Carey, for your gorgeous performance.

Too shallow and moralistic in the end

This book is competently written and has an interesting premise, but is too moralistic for my taste. Instead of complex themes, you get simple lessons that are explicitly stated multiple times. One chapter toward the end is quite literally a summary from the protagonist explaining the moral of the story, in case you didn't get it the first few times.

The novel isn't aimed at children, but it has all the complexity of a children's book, and seems designed meant to impart teachings about outlook & behavior. It's about as deep as a puddle.

If the idea of a motivational self-help book disguised as a novel appeals to you, consider picking this one up. If not, this is a hard pass. Not even a decent performance from Mulligan could salvage it for me.

A Fantastic Listen

Finished it in one day. Couldn't stop listening to it. A lovely story about, what-ifs, regrets, and life.

Best Book EVER

Don’t miss this book in your life. A book worth living for to treasure as a jewel.

All the Depth of a Soap Opera

Wow. All the positive reviews make me fear for our minds, souls, and publishing world. A story with a promising premise but disappointingly thin on execution. The lives Nora lives tell us nothing about who she really is. Instead, she's like a Barbie doll -- going from glaciologist, to rockstar, Olympian, animal shelter employee, etc, etc, etc, with no insight into what strengths, weaknesses, challenges enable her to take on each of these lives. As a rockstar, she gives us her impressions of a hotel suite, and little else. Zero on who celebrity had made her. What kind of person would you be if you had an international audience and an entourage fawning over you? It's a question this book never answers. Instead we hear about her hair style and piercings. It's all surface like the novel itself. Feeble chess metaphors and cringe-worthy rock lyrics round it out. I had to make sure I hadn't mistakenly picked this from the Y.A. category. 13-year-old me might have liked it more. The narration on the other hand, is great. Have to wonder if Carey Mulligan was rolling her eyes while recording it.

Great book, terrible narration

I almost gave up on this book 30 minutes in because the narration was so bad. I’m glad I stuck it out because it’s a great story.