Today we had a lively discussion of The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. The author’s work has been described as speculative fiction, or magic realism.

 In our novel, Nora is so depressed by the dull and mundane life her choices have led her to that she attempts suicide with an overdose. Unconscious and on the brink of death she wakes up in a fantastical library with an infinite number of books, each containing narratives of alternative lives she could have led through different choices. Here she meets her kind old school librarian, Mrs Elm, who explains that Nora can sample the lives she could have lived, and Nora goes on a series of adventures which lead her into situations which on the surface seem exciting but which ultimately disappoint her. 

 Our group found that the novel was sometimes repetitive, melodramatic or predictable, but it was also funny, thought-provoking and very readable. It contained a number of quotable insights on the subjects of both depression and self-fulfilment. Nora, who throughout her adventures and travails seems to offer us little to warm to, in her final crisis engages us happily by choosing the right (if fairly predictable) life of old, but with renewed vigour, an appreciation of the value of kindness and making the most of what you’ve got, without over-thinking. 

 Matt Haig, diagnosed with ADHD and autism, and with a history of depression and anxiety, has written a novel which though somewhat didactic is both entertaining and uplifting.