"Between life and death there is a library. And within that library, the shelves go on for ever. Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived. To see how things would be different if you had made other choices...Would you have done anything different, if you had the chance to undo your regrets?"
---Mrs. Elm, the librarian from the novel
Nora Seed is contemplating suicide when she is transported to The Midnight Library of the book title. The quote above provides a hint at what happens there. In times in her life, Nora aspired to be an Olympic swimmer, a glaciologist, a rock star, a wife and mother, and she has given up on each goal and even failed "to be a truly good and truly happy person," in her own mind. Nothing has given her lasting happiness and she is in despair as she faces a dark future.
The librarian, Mrs. Elm. shows Nora The Book of Regrets which holds every regret she has ever had in her life. And she can choose a path she regrets and, seemingly try to undo it. Yes, it was pretty hard to believe a person could move in and out of different phases of their life. Closer to fantasy than fiction, in my opinion. One character Nora meets who is experiencing the same thing she is, says this, "I have encountered a few other sliders. That's what I call them. Us. We are sliders. We have a root life in which we are lying somewhere, unconscious, suspended between life and death, and then we arrive in a place. And it's always something different. A library, a video store, an art gallery, a casino...." Sound weird? Yeah, I thought so.
I finished this book because I was just curious enough to want to know what happens to Nora. I will rate it a 3---I sort of liked it, didn't love it. It was unique, I must admit.
I almost feel like recommending the book to a couple of friends who are physicists. Quantum physics is mentioned several times for example, "The many-worlds interpretation of quantum physics suggests there are an infinite number of divergent parallel universes." Wow! Totally over my head!
Good luck with this one!
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