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Midnight Library (2020) is the best-known novel by English writer Matt Haig. Nora Seed, a thirty-five-year-old woman, feels like a complete failure: her marriage has failed, she has lost her job, she has become estranged from her family and friends, and her cat has died. In a moment of deepest despair, she attempts to take her own life. Instead of dying, she wakes up in a vast library between life and death. The librarian Mrs. Elm explains to her that every book on the shelves contains an alternative life that Nora could have lived if she had made different choices.

Nora begins to try out different versions of herself: a successful musician, a world-famous Olympic swimmer, a successful entrepreneur, a mother, an adventurer... Each new life brings excitement, but also new problems. She gradually realizes that a perfect life does not exist and that every decision carries its own sacrifices.

Haig writes in a warm, accessible and philosophically subtle style. The novel combines elements of fantasy, drama, and self-help literature, but avoids clichés. It delves deeply into themes of regret, depression, choice, forgiveness, and the meaning of life. The book became a worldwide bestseller and one of the most widely read books in recent years, especially popular among those struggling with anxiety and feelings of failure.