In the fog of 2020, a book emerged. By some miracle, as we were all suffering in our own ways, a story that was hopeful and heavy, heart-filled and magical published. I’m speaking, of course, of The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. Full of soul and sorrow, this book about a woman on the verge of losing her life to suicide gets the chance to explore the many versions of herself through an infinite, otherworldly library. It was a sort of antidote to what we were all experiencing as well as a mirror of our declining and fragile mental health at the time. Often described as the It’s a Wonderful Life of the modern day, it hit in such a specific way at that exact time in history that it seemed like a real-life sort of magic akin to something you might see in one of Matt’s books.
Of course, The Midnight Library wasn’t his first book. It wasn’t even his first success. His nonfiction book Reasons for Staying Alive was a chart-topping hit. The Humans is where Haig found his trademark, genre-bending style in fiction that swirled sci-fi, magical realism and his exploration of mental health into a category all its own. Proving there’s no one box you can put him into, Haig also writes children’s books, including one that was recently adapted for the small screen, A Boy Called Christmas. With ten million copies of his books sold worldwide, and counting, he has reached what most would consider the pinnacle of authorhood.
Wherever you started your reading journey with him, no doubt you’ve heard of him, but perhaps you haven’t heard from him in a while.
Always open about his own mental health diagnoses and struggles, he’s made sort of a genre of his own out of exploring the complexities of the human mind (starting first and foremost with his own). However, the same thing that has propelled him to the top of the literary mountain is also the thing that almost stopped him from writing ever again. Around 2021, he had declared to himself that he was done with the writing world. A long-time and highly active user on Twitter/X, he disappeared from the platform and from his 425,000 followers. So, when it was announced that another book was on the way, it came as a welcome surprise to the millions of fans who had come to adore the worlds he built.
Now, we’re celebrating the release of The Life Impossible. His newly released novel centers around a retired schoolteacher who inherits a piece of property in Ibiza from an old friend and decides to explore the island, her friend’s mysterious history, as well as herself.
In a recent Instagram reel, Matt discusses why he chose the setting and how he feels about his latest work:
“I’ve had a very complex, problematic relationship with Ibiza over the years. Coming back here was a really big part of therapy for me. And writing this novel and encountering the place I nearly died again, and facing it–facing up to it–and speaking about it and writing about it was massively important to me. I think that’s why this is my favorite novel, I think it will stay being my favorite novel. I think it’s the best thing I’ve ever written and I hope some of you will agree with me.”
With his trademark honesty and transparency, he’s discussed many times the period in his twenties when he faced depression and anxiety and had a break that nearly cost him his life. Now, he’s gone from a young man, indulging in the party aspect of Ibiza, to the forty-nine-year-old bestseller who has reverence for “the fragile side, the quiet side, the loud side, and the magical sort of spiritual side” of this Mediterranean destination.
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He seems dedicated to not only changing his own relationship to the island, but his audience’s perception of it as well.
Despite his overwhelming success and reaching what most would consider peak achievement in any career, he still suffers, as so many do, with the battles of the mind. In another Instagram post, he details what he’s gone through over the past few years. Reminding all of us that achievement and success aren’t the keys to happiness. That is found within. And it appears, he has discovered that once again.
“I always report my sadnesses and woes so I would just like to put in this public diary that I am happy. I have finished a book. I am writing a new one. Writing is my making music. It is where I feel free. I had given it up for a while. I’d let my mind get to me. I’d let things get to me. I didn’t realize this is what you get for being in the public eye and you have to just ignore that shit like everyone ignores that shit. I turned down an award. I stopped working on a book. I got therapy. Finding out I had autism and ADHD made me think I had never known myself and that I should be doing something else now. I let myself give up the thing I love. But the key word was ‘let’. There was a part of me that was allowing that stuff in. I imagined I could find something else that makes me as happy, but the truth is I am a writer. Not saying I am a great one. But I genuinely love creating stories. I never did a creative writing course. I never went to a fancy school or university. Despite being another ubiquitous white male, I psychologically always felt a bad fit for the London book world. Felt I had too many rough edges. Like I didn’t know the rules. Imposter syndrome be damned. This is what I am here to do. Have fun making shit up. Like a mad person.”
If that isn’t a lesson for all his readers, and really anyone in general, then what is? Though it always comes with some trademark self-deprecating, Haig is truly an example of what it looks like to be in a life-long battle for reigning in your own terrible thoughts and persevering nonetheless.
And persevered he has.
In addition to the release of A Boy Called Christmas on Netflix, all of his novels have been optioned for film. His book The Radleys is a modern vampire novel about a family living in suburbia attempting to abstain from their nature and is releasing this fall starring Damian Lewis.
He explains that this book got him dropped from his publisher in 2009, and yet, it will be on screen before the end of the year.
The Hollywood Reporter also announced that StudioCanal would be bringing The Midnight Library to film. Furthermore, Benedict Cumberbatch will star in a TV adaptation of, yet another one of Matt Haig’s beloved novels, How to Stop Time.
“Benedict Cumberbatch is the dream person to play Tom Hazard and was always who I pictured in my mind. And Tomas Alfredson is the ideal director for this story. The whole team is incredible, and it is so great to feel a story is in the best possible hands,” Matt Haig told The Hollywood Reporter.
In just about every interview, Haig will downplay his success as well as his talent, but his readers know better than to be deterred by his humility (or self-doubt). As any book lover is aware, a book told by someone with real heart and a deep desire to show up in the most authentic, and genuine way possible, will always find fans. And when they do that truly well, it will be in the millions. Thankfully, Haig has come to terms with this artistic struggle, and so, time and time again, he produces hits.
In an interview with The Guardian a few years ago, he had this to say:
“The great feeling is when you’ve written something that you wouldn’t change too much about. The worst thing, I think, is when you play to the gallery. I wrote a book called The Possession Of Mr Cave for the wrong reasons – to try to get a highbrow, literary response. I did get the good reviews I was seeking, but I’d rather write a book that isn’t that well-received that I’m happy with.”
It seems to be working out. With his alignment to this desire, readers are likely going to love The Life Impossible, just as they’ve loved his other novels and nonfiction works. In a Twitter/X post, he discussed the way this story begged to be told:
“I was never going to write again. I stepped away from writing. And then this idea came and clung like a barnacle to a boat.”
Fortunately for us. With this strong of a pull, readers can be excited about another deeply human story that reaches in and tugs at your heartstrings, beckoning you to believe in what’s good and offering permission to love the parts of yourself you wish you could change, as Haig appears to strive to do himself.
The options for this book have been sold as well, so as more of his novels hit the screen, it seems a fair bet The Life Impossible will too. In the meantime, we can all look forward to having the book as one of our most anticipated reads of the season, and truly the year. What should you know going in, though? According to Haig, this is an imperative:
“Some people won’t like it. I have already had one person say the talking goat was too much. So, if you like your fiction straight without a twist of science fiction or magical realism or SENTIENT GOATS then this is probably not for you. Though I will add that the aforementioned goat doesn’t talk – it THINKS. And someone reads its mind. And I believe goats think and are clever so there and I also believe somewhere in the universe there is an intelligent life that could read their minds.”
As we roll into fall, we could all use a spiritual, magical book, filled with hope, featuring a sentient goat… don’t you think?
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