by Matt Haig
Viking, 2020. 288 pages. Sci-Fi
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. Nora Seed finds herself 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.
Have you ever had a wonderful idea for a book to write, only to realize it had already been written by someone else? From time to time, we all wonder what our lives could have been like if only there had been some small change. Haig expertly explores these parallel universes to imagine what Nora could be living in another life. It is a bit heavy-handed on the self-help sprinkled throughout, but it certainly generates some food for thought. I guess I'll have to find another way to express my existential crises and the incidental crippling ennui.