Elm encourages Nora to pursue less 'obvious' paths. Nora tries a life where she stayed in her band and became a famous rock star, but she learns that becoming famous lead to Joe dying from substance abuse. But Nora longs to find a life to settle down in.

When Nora tests out becoming an Artic researcher, she meets a man Hugo Lefèvre, who is also jumping between his alternate realities and has been doing so for a long time. Nora then tries becoming an Olympic swimming, only to find out she is depressed in that life, too. Next, Nora is transported into a life where she moved to Australia with Izzy, but finds out Izzy would have died in a car accident. She also tries a life where Volts was kept indoors to prevent it from being hit by a car, but learns the cat actually died of a health condition. Nora tries out a life with her ex, Dan, who she nearly married, only to discover that he would have gotten bored and cheated on her. Nora can stay in these alternate realities as long as she desires, but if she loses her will to live in the process then she will die forever. Elm (or something that resembles her) is here and serves as Nora's guide, explaining that the Library exists between life and death. Nora finds herself surrounded by mist, and she discovers The Midnight Library, where infinite rows of books represent portals into different variations of her life. Nora decides to die, and she overdoses on pills at midnight. After a string of other unfortunate events - fired as a music tutor, reminded of having grown apart from her former best friend Izzy, etc. Both men blame her for dropping out right when they had a chance at a major record deal. She also runs to Ravi, who she was once in a band with along with her brother Joe. Nora is upset and late for work, and she gets fired by her boss, Neil. Nineteen years later, Nora is now a 35-year-old woman who is unhappy in her life.Ī neighbor, Ash, informs her that her cat, Voltaire ('Volts'), has been hit by a car. Elm, when she gets the news about her father's death. She is playing chess with the school librarian, Mrs. The Midnight Library opens with a teenaged Nora Seed, who is smart and a talented swimmer. Nora returns to her original life, except now with less regrets and hope for the future. The Library dissolves as Nora decides to live. She eventually finds a life she's happy in, but in the process she learns that her original life had value. Through these alternate realities, she learns that the paths she'd regretted giving up weren't what she'd thought they would be. The one-paragraph version of this is: Nora Seed is unhappy in her life, tries to kill herself and finds herself at The Midnight Library, where she is able to try out different versions of her life.

The midnight library pages