The Midnight Library
Matt Haig (2020)
“A suicidal woman discovers a library between life and death where every book is a life she could have lived — and none of them are what she expected.”
For Students
Because you have probably already wondered what your life would look like if you had made different choices — and this novel tests every one of those fantasies honestly. It is also a gateway to existentialist philosophy without the jargon: Kierkegaard and Sartre made accessible through narrative rather than argument. At 288 pages, it reads in a weekend and stays with you for much longer.
For Teachers
The novel's structure — repeated entry into alternate lives — lends itself to in-class exercises (students writing their own 'Midnight Library' chapters). It introduces philosophical concepts (existentialism, many-worlds interpretation, the paradox of choice) through accessible fiction. It also opens conversations about mental health that students may otherwise resist. Pairs well with The Bell Jar, It's a Wonderful Life, and Sartre's existentialist writings.
Why It Still Matters
Social media is a Midnight Library where everyone can see the lives they are not living — and suffer for the comparison. The novel's core insight — that regret is about the self, not the circumstance — is more relevant in an age of infinite curated alternatives than it has ever been. If you have ever scrolled through someone else's highlight reel and felt your own life diminish, this novel was written for you.