The Midnight Train by Matt Haig is the second book in this series of books about taking wrong turns or right turns in life, exploring what regret means and whether those regrets are even worthwhile. While Nora Seed from The Midnight Library appears in this story, it is not a sequel.
Wilbur Budd, by all accounts, has lived a long life. He met the love of his life, built a business from the ground up, and is considered an astute businessman. But what isn’t seen is the loneliness he’s achieved. And I say achieved because he made some decisions that got him the financial security he longed for after living a poor childhood, but he also lost a lot of personal happiness along the way.
Wilbur soon finds himself on the midnight train where Agnes Bagdale, the original proprietor of the first bookstore Wilbur owned in Sheffield, England, tells him to accept what has happened and take a trip through his past on his way to eternity. How many of us would accept death without questions? Without regrets? This is a chilling moment in which the reality of Wilbur’s situation is clear and could lead to despair.
“The forwardness of life was a problem, thought the Ghost.
If days could be scattered all over, so on Monday you were forty and on Tuesday you were nine and on Wednesday you were eighty-one, that would be more helpful. You would know the fleeting nature of things, realize how many versions of ourselves a lifetime contained. It would make life’s beauty so abundantly clear.” (pg. 131)
Wilbur has spend far too many years with his head down and working. He needed to spend more time looking up.
It’s a reminder to us all that while earning financial security is hard and requires diligence, we should also take time for ourselves and enjoy the bonds we create while we can, or like Wilbur we may lose our greatest loves.
“The problem was this:
Everything that was once so slow in life was now so fast. But while time had shortened, the power of it all had strengthened in potency. So, if living a normal life was like sipping water, experiencing it flashing by out of a train window was more like downing whiskey after whiskey.
He was drunk and battered from the blur.” (pg. 172)
Haig’s flawed character of Wilbur is also an ordinary man. He has fears and insecurities, but he also has deep commitments. He may not always do the right thing, but those decisions come from fear. Don’t we all work from fear sometimes?
The Midnight Train by Matt Haig extends the exploration of what makes up a life and what should be prioritized in that life. And for each of this, it is different. Like The Old Man in the Sea, Haig is exploring the importance of companionship, but he’s exploring so much more. This was another fun read for the summer, even with hits deep explorations into humanity.
RATING: Cinquain
About the Author:
Matt Haig is the internationally bestselling author of the novels The Midnight Library, The Life Impossible, How to Stop Time, The Humans and The Radleys. His work has been translated into over fifty languages.
The Midnight Library was an instant bestseller and winner of the Goodreads Choice Award for Fiction. It has become a worldwide phenomenon and sold over ten million copies worldwide spending 52 weeks in the New York Times bestseller list. The audiobook is read by Carey Mulligan.
