Book Review: The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

If you've ever wondered what a superhero "multiverse" movie would be like without the superheroes, then look no further: The Midnight Library by Matt Haig is exactly what you're seeking. Although the book can be a bit divisive (I've had a number of colleagues criticize and/or DNF the novel), I find myself returning to The Midnight Library over and over in conversation. This was a book that I needed to read during the darkest eras of my adolescence - and, while it arrived a few decades too late for me, it's a novel that should be placed in the hands of many, many readers with similar life circumstances.

The general premise of the novel is that a struggling young woman, Nora Seed, stands on the precipice of suicide in a moment of bleak hopelessness. As her body (and soul?) start shutting down, Nora finds herself transported to a mystical "library" in which every book is an alternate fate, depending on the decisions she has made in her life. In one timeline, she's an Olympic athlete; in another, she's a glaciologist; in yet another, she's a rock star. However, no matter how glamorous her new "reality" might appear, there are always ripple effects due to her "better" life choices. Is success worth it if _____ dies or _____ suffers or _____ disowns her? With time running out and death closing in, Nora must make the ultimate decision and choose the perfect path to salvation - which might very well be the life she least expected to save her.

For obvious reasons, the book echoes Fredrik Backman's Anxious People and the lackluster 2004 film, The Butterfly Effect. However, with more magical underpinnings than Anxious People and stronger writing than The Butterfly Effect, Haig's book stands on its own merits. While Backman's novel occupies a dearer place in my heart, I can't deny that The Midnight Library has recently inhabited (*ahem*) shelf space in my memory.

As a kid, I used to read the Marvel Comics What If? series religiously, and I always geeked out over the possibility of altered fates and alternate endings. For years, I've used this as a thought experiment: What would have happened if my band had been signed to a major label? What if I had attended UCLA instead of UC Berkeley? What if I had published Incomplete five years earlier? Obviously, these questions are impossible to answer - but it doesn't make them any less interesting or thought-provoking. Since then, the multiverse concept has been played out (I'm looking at you, MCU and DC Comics), but the "what if?" thought experiment is ultimately timeless and multitudinous.

Whether or not Matt Haig is a comic-book fan, he has crafted the most notable literary version of What If? that I've encountered. Is the book perfect? Not by a longshot. However, as Nora Seed realizes in the pages of The Midnight Library, sometimes imperfection can lead to the most perfect outcome of all.

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