Let's look at some examples of these. I think this is a really interesting, really important hypothetical. I found the title of The Midnight Library to be particularly intriguing. Haig bases The Midnight Library around one central theme and a common human curiosity: what is the purpose of life? Its a beautiful thing. One cement-grey book, however, is different from the rest. Nora feels sad that they have drifted apart over the years. I dont think I could have picked a better book to kick off this year with, definitely makes me want to explore the other what ifs and not regret the things I may have missed in the past. It reveals how exploring these unlived lives has opened her up to the idea that she can make a change in her daily life. Then she wakes up in a mysterious library filled with books of other lives she might have led and an invitation from the librarian, Mrs. Elm, to enter their pages. Curl up in a window seat or Cloud State University M.A. The main themes in The Midnight Library are choice and regret, philosophy and the meaning of life, and relationships and forgiveness. She begins to reflect on the nature of success and she finds that even in her most glamorous or widely admired lives there is still disappointment and sadness. As readers, her journey is our journey, and by the end, my own book of regrets felt considerably lighter. From as far back as she could remember, she'd had the sense that she wasn't enough. She is attempting to tell her that, as her adventures have revealed, her life still contains so many hidden possibilities. Though Noras perspective shifts incrementally with each new life she enters, this experience particularly contributes significantly to her reframing of what it means to lead a good life. I was both intrigued and uneasy about the use of a fantastical library to explore something as real and horrific as suicidal depression. Nora, who is treated like a mistake in need of correction by her mother, seeks comfort and kindness from Ms Elm, after finding out her father has died. And While Nora sees many different versions of her life throughout the book, the story ends with her back in Bedford. Each book contains a life Chessboard (Symbol). eNotes.com, Inc. Would your expectations have changed, and as a result, would your reaction have changed? She is a woman in her thirties, who leads a life she finds lonely and disappointing. Enjoy eNotes ad-free and cancel anytime. Maybe that was the only meaning that mattered. The second date is today's And between her and herself., Happy moments can turn into pain, given time.. Between life and death there is a library, and within that library, the shelves go on forever. We dont know how she will spend it or who she will spend it with. In the speech she gives in her champion-swimmer existence, Nora says that the outward appearance of her life does not really convey the struggles she has endured and that the very idea of a "successful" life is misleading.