The Midnight Library Chapter 9: The Book of Regrets / Regret Overload Summary & Analysis

This exceptional book is called The Book of Regrets, and Mrs. Elm explains that it contains every single regret that Nora has ever had. Finding it very heavy, Nora sits on the floor and opens it, reading through the massive list of her perceived failures and missed opportunities. Many of the regrets are minor, but several of them repeat over and over across many pages, such as her regrets about leaving her brother’s band, quitting her swimming career, and never becoming a glaciologist. Some regrets are faint and hardly visible, while others are very bold on the page, especially the ones concerning Dan.

This book represents all of Nora’s regrets made real and tangible before her eyes, forcing her not only to dwell on her past, but to face it head-on. The emotional heaviness of Nora’s missed opportunities has become a literal, physical weight that shows her just how extensive her list of regrets has become over the years. The regrets that are faint on the page are the ones that hardly matter to Nora anymore, while the ones in bold stay on her mind and give her much more grief.

Active Themes

Nora remembers when she first met Dan, and reflects on how she ultimately let him down. She had been deeply in love with him and wanted to share his dream of owning a pub in the countryside, but she soon got in over her head and realized she was terrified of marrying him. She had feared commitment, having children, and becoming like her parents. Nora’s mother had died of her illness just a few months before their wedding, and this, combined with Nora’s depression and anxiety, had finally compelled Nora to run away from the wedding and from many other opportunities. She feels the incredible agony of all of these regrets bearing down on her at once, and it’s with immense difficulty that she manages to close The Book of Regrets and stop the intense pain.

Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ips

Through the more detailed explanation of her history with Dan, the reader learns more about what drove Nora to cancel the wedding, and why she feels such powerful regret for her actions. The excruciating pain of Nora’s regret is emphasized in this moment, as her regrets becoming too much to bear had largely been what drove her to attempt suicide in the first place. In this library, Nora’s regrets and neuroses are not only unavoidable, but also much more tangible and potentially dangerous, as she’s assumed to be balancing precariously on the borders of life and death.

Active Themes

The Midnight Library: Chapter 9 Summary & Analysis