The Midnight Library

The book's protagonist is a young woman named Nora Seed who is unhappy with her choices in life. During the night, she tries to kill herself but ends up in a library managed by her school librarian, Mrs. Elm. The library is situated between life and death with millions of books filled with stories of her life had she made some different decisions. In this library, she then tries to find the life in which she's the most content.[3] For example, in one possible life she tries to reunite with her boyfriend and finds herself married to him, but it is not the way as she expected. She also sees herself as a glaciologist doing research in the Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic – a very different life from the one she tries to escape, but not necessarily a better choice.

The Midnight Library was named a bestseller by The New York Times bestseller,[4] The Boston Globe,[5] and The Washington Post.[6] Good Morning America selected it as a Book Club Pick.[7]

Booklist[8] and BookPage[9] gave the book a starred review. The Book Reporter[10] and The Arts Desk[11] raved about it. The book also received positive reviews from The New York Times,[12] The Guardian,[13] ZYZZYVA,[14] The Scotsman,[15]The Sunday Times,[16] Library Journal,[17] Kirkus Reviews,[4]The Washington Post,[18] Publishers Weekly,[19] and Post Independent.[20] NPR gave a mixed review.[21]

The book was also included in "Best of" lists from The Christian Science Monitor,[22] Amazon,[23] PureWow,[24] She Reads,[25] Lit Hub, St. Louis Public Radio, and The Washington Post.[11]

The Midnight Library was adapted for radio and broadcast in ten episodes on BBC Radio 4 in December 2020.[29][30]