‘Between life and death there is a library’, she said, ‘and within that library, the shelves go on forever. Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived. To see how things would be if you had made other choices… Would you have done anything different, if you had the chance to undo your regrets?’
She isn’t dead. She isn’t alive either. After a failed suicide attempt, Nora Seed finds herself faced with tough decisions.
The Midnight Library, a place somewhere beyond our universe, contains an endless number of books – each one is another life that Nora could have lived. Under the guidance of Mrs. Elm, Nora gets to dive into and try lives where she’s made different choices. She can live a life where she owns a pub or is a dog owner. She can try a life where she lives in Australia or a life where her mom is still alive. In addition to that, she can be an Olympic winner and a world-famous rock star. In one of her lives, where she has an encounter with a polar bear, Nora meets a mysterious stranger who shares her fate. Does she regret not living her real life differently? Are any of the lives perfect for her? What kind of life would she want if she could start all over again? She must decide before the clock strikes 00.01.
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Canongate Books, 2020
Check from the OverDrive e-library.
Check from the e-catalogue ESTER.
Mariann Lips
Intern in the Department of Literature in Estonian