CW: This novel and review contains mentions of drug use, depression, and suicide. Reader's discretion is advised. There are two kind of fantasies; one that takes you beyond the borders of reality into an entirely new world and the one which makes a person float high in the sky of imagination yet keeping them grounded to reality at some point. However, in case of The Midnight Library, the writer takes the reader on a whole new journey; a kind of a journey never experienced by the “living” minds before. How would the world be if each one of us had the chance to undo our regrets? Would we have done otherwise? Would that have affected the way we think or do things in our life? The novel is a deep insight into the usual philosophical ponderings that we, as individuals, consume our time on. Haig’s novel The Midnight Library is a philosophical novel and revolves around the themes of life and the infinite opportunities that it holds. It also gives us a glimpse into the fact that how life would have been if “every opportunity” that came across us was “lived” to the fullest (without any second thoughts). The book is gentle glide into the world of fantasy. There are an infinite amount of choices but only one chance to nail each one of them. The stakes of each life are presented before Nora. Now it is up to her to live her first "second chance". The novel is an incredible journey from regret to closure. The protagonist is a 35-year-old woman named Nora Seed who lived in Bedford with her family. She suffers from anxiety for not having lived life up to her family's expectations; she feels incomplete, insecure and unwanted. One night, her anguish soars high and she overdoses on her drugs and commits suicide. Now, this is where the imagination of both the reader and writer gears up for action. After Nora dies, she finds herself in a place called the midnight library; a place that exists between life and death. It looks just like an ordinary library except for the fact that each book is a living story i-e a set of lives of the parallel universe which Nora tries one by one in order to discover the ‘unlived life’ just to see how one would have done things differently if one had the chance to live a life free of regrets. Every book in the shelves gives her the chance to undo her regrets. She tries hundreds of life and in each she finds a new persona of herself; also the ones she never thought she would ever pull those off in her ‘real’ life. New life means new set of circumstances and challenges which she must face in order to make a decision; whether she wants to live permanently in one of the ‘parallel’ lives or move on from all of it. Nora shifting her persona throughout the novel is intriguing as she endeavors to perceive what she really wants in order to complete her life. The novel is profoundly written. The main star is the protagonist Nora Seed while the other characters fade as the novel progresses. It is written in the third person limited point of view. The language of the book is simple and lucid and written in a prose style. Visions start to appear before your eyes as you read each and every line in it. I was hooked from the first till the last page. For me, the most engrossing part of the book was that each chapter is named after the life she experiences; as a reader, it was interesting for me to be able to embark upon the same journey as Nora did in the novel. While reading it, I was reflecting on my life and decisions and relating the philosophies of life with my life and I think this reader-writer interaction is the sign of a successful author; he not only tells but shows. The storyline allows the reader to improve his present for a better tomorrow. The characters are very well constructed. We can feel the same emotions as the characters did in the novel; regret, anxiety, and love (we have all been through that haven’t we?). I strongly agree that the “life after death” trope is quite a daunting task to nail and needs a profound understanding and it is something quite hard to imagine as it can’t be easily experienced. The ones who have gone through this cannot come back to tell us how it feels. So, this is where the creative and imaginative parts of our mind work at its best. Haig gave us a gamut of emotions with every chapter. The writer through this book is trying to pique the interest of the reader by embarking on the fact how essential reading is. If one doesn’t read, one is as good as dead. Since Nora didn’t make use of her life, she had to repeat her lesson in “in-between”. All the unfinished business in her life was accumulated in form of books in the midnight library. Although the book is incredible and has done justice with the knacks of creative writing yet there were a few things that didn’t appeal to me very much. For instance, Nora has an infinite number of books but not an infinite amount of time to choose from. Secondly, the story follows a single-line spectrum without any subplots. Despite these loopholes, the book works fine for me. The world-building was nicely executed. Although it’s a fiction novel yet it teaches you a lot about reality. I will recommend this book to anyone who feels confused about life and its choices. The observation of Haig on Nora and her despair leading her life really hits the reader in the eye. The ending will surely leave you feeling sordid but inspired by the life and its vastness. Rabiya Mazhar is a 19-year-old undergraduate student of English literature with psychology at GC University, Lahore. she is a freelance writer and a journalist at Blueblood International newspaper. Rabiya is an enthusiastic and devoted person.
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May 2023
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