What do you think?
Rate this book
The Midnight World #2
Gece Yarısı Treni
Matt Haig, tüm dünyayı kasıp kavuran Gece Yarısı Kütüphanesi ile aynı evrende geçen, yüreğinize dokunacak yeni bir hikâyeye davet ediyor: Gece Yarısı Treni.
Nora Seed gece yarısı olduğunda ölmemeyi öğrenmişti. Wilbur Budd ise gece yarısı olduğunda yaşamayı öğrenmek zorunda. Bir kitapçı zinciri sahibi Wilbur, 81 yıllık ömrünün çoğunu işine adamış, bu uğurda büyük aşkı Maggie’yi ihmal etmiştir. Yıllar sonra gelen bir telefonla tam umutlanmışken ölüm kapıda belirir. Ancak bu kez bir son değil, bir tren yolculuğunun başlangıcı olarak.
Wilbur bu trenle geçmişine, hayatının en karanlık ve en parlak anlarına doğru ilerleyecek. Tek bir kural var: Geçmişteki halinle asla konuşma. Peki, insan her şeyi berbat ettiğini bildiği o âna geri dönse, kurala uyup izlemekle mi yetinir yoksa başka bir hayat yaşamak uğruna raydan çıkmayı mı seçer?
Nora Seed gece yarısı olduğunda ölmemeyi öğrenmişti. Wilbur Budd ise gece yarısı olduğunda yaşamayı öğrenmek zorunda. Bir kitapçı zinciri sahibi Wilbur, 81 yıllık ömrünün çoğunu işine adamış, bu uğurda büyük aşkı Maggie’yi ihmal etmiştir. Yıllar sonra gelen bir telefonla tam umutlanmışken ölüm kapıda belirir. Ancak bu kez bir son değil, bir tren yolculuğunun başlangıcı olarak.
Wilbur bu trenle geçmişine, hayatının en karanlık ve en parlak anlarına doğru ilerleyecek. Tek bir kural var: Geçmişteki halinle asla konuşma. Peki, insan her şeyi berbat ettiğini bildiği o âna geri dönse, kurala uyup izlemekle mi yetinir yoksa başka bir hayat yaşamak uğruna raydan çıkmayı mı seçer?
304 pages, Paperback
First published May 26, 2026
About the author
Matt Haig
79 books51.6k followersMatt Haig is the author of novels such as The Midnight Library, How to Stop Time, The Humans, The Life Impossible and now The Midnight Train. He has also written books for children, such as A Boy Called Christmas, the memoir Reasons to Stay Alive and also The Comfort Book.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 3,166 reviews
June 19, 2026
In the simplest words from my romantic heart: I truly, deeply adored this book.
Even though you can sense where the story is heading, the beauty lies in its simplicity and sincerity. The writing doesn’t try to be clever or complicated—it’s genuine, and that’s exactly what makes it so powerful. Many of the emotional moments resonated with me in a way that felt almost personal, and because of that, I loved this story even more.
This novel is both sensational and quietly inspirational. It gently reminds us of life lessons we already know, but too often forget to actually live by: to slow down, to be present, to forgive, to let go. Life is not a marathon—it is a collection of moments, and sometimes we rush past the very ones that matter the most. Letting go isn’t something any of us ever fully masters, because we’re human. We make mistakes, we hurt each other, and we choose wrong when choosing right would have been harder. Pain is part of loving, and this book understands that deeply.
Maybe if I had read this story twenty years ago, Wilbur Budd’s journey wouldn’t have touched me so strongly. But as we grow older, the truths in this novel feel sharper and more real. We start thinking about time, about regret, about what we would change if we were given another chance. And we also start wondering about death—what comes after, if anything. Is it darkness? Heaven? Another beginning? A second life in another body? This book dares to explore those questions in the most tender and imaginative way.
Wilbur Budd is a wealthy bookstore owner who dies alone in his house, just after losing the love of his life once again. He reads Maggie’s farewell letter, collapses, and suffers a fatal heart attack. It feels final. Devastating. But that’s not where his story ends.
Wilbur becomes a ghost and boards the mysterious Midnight Train, guided by the unforgettable Agnes Deborah Amaryllis Bagsdale—the eccentric, magical owner of the bookshop where Wilbur first fell in love with reading as a child. She was the kind of woman who could place the perfect book into your hands and somehow know exactly what your soul needed. Years later, Wilbur would work in that very same shop and eventually inherit it, carrying on her legacy.
Now, Agnes becomes his guide through eternity, taking him through the most important moments of his life. We witness the tragedies that shaped him, the losses that broke him, and the love that defined him. One of the most beautiful memories is his honeymoon in Venice with Maggie—wandering through the labyrinth of narrow streets, lost together, discovering what happiness truly feels like.
But Wilbur is heartbroken even in death. And a question begins to haunt him: what if he could go back? What if time isn’t as fixed as we think? What if, by risking eternity itself, he could correct his mistakes and save the love he lost? His old friend Charlie believed that time is relative—that the past might still be part of the future. But interfering with time comes with a terrifying cost. Could Wilbur change his fate without erasing himself?
This story is romantic in the purest sense of the word. To me, it is much more a love story than a fantasy—an emotional, inspirational, beautifully tender drama about regret, devotion, and second chances. I loved its simplicity and its directness. It warmed my heart from the very first page to the last, and it earned every one of its five stars.
It was also one of my fastest, most absorbing reads—easy to fall into, impossible not to feel.
Highly recommended. 💫
A million thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Viking for sharing one of the most anticipated books of 2026 with me in exchange for my honest thoughts, which I truly and sincerely appreciate.
medium.com
instagram
facebook
twitter<
Even though you can sense where the story is heading, the beauty lies in its simplicity and sincerity. The writing doesn’t try to be clever or complicated—it’s genuine, and that’s exactly what makes it so powerful. Many of the emotional moments resonated with me in a way that felt almost personal, and because of that, I loved this story even more.
This novel is both sensational and quietly inspirational. It gently reminds us of life lessons we already know, but too often forget to actually live by: to slow down, to be present, to forgive, to let go. Life is not a marathon—it is a collection of moments, and sometimes we rush past the very ones that matter the most. Letting go isn’t something any of us ever fully masters, because we’re human. We make mistakes, we hurt each other, and we choose wrong when choosing right would have been harder. Pain is part of loving, and this book understands that deeply.
Maybe if I had read this story twenty years ago, Wilbur Budd’s journey wouldn’t have touched me so strongly. But as we grow older, the truths in this novel feel sharper and more real. We start thinking about time, about regret, about what we would change if we were given another chance. And we also start wondering about death—what comes after, if anything. Is it darkness? Heaven? Another beginning? A second life in another body? This book dares to explore those questions in the most tender and imaginative way.
Wilbur Budd is a wealthy bookstore owner who dies alone in his house, just after losing the love of his life once again. He reads Maggie’s farewell letter, collapses, and suffers a fatal heart attack. It feels final. Devastating. But that’s not where his story ends.
Wilbur becomes a ghost and boards the mysterious Midnight Train, guided by the unforgettable Agnes Deborah Amaryllis Bagsdale—the eccentric, magical owner of the bookshop where Wilbur first fell in love with reading as a child. She was the kind of woman who could place the perfect book into your hands and somehow know exactly what your soul needed. Years later, Wilbur would work in that very same shop and eventually inherit it, carrying on her legacy.
Now, Agnes becomes his guide through eternity, taking him through the most important moments of his life. We witness the tragedies that shaped him, the losses that broke him, and the love that defined him. One of the most beautiful memories is his honeymoon in Venice with Maggie—wandering through the labyrinth of narrow streets, lost together, discovering what happiness truly feels like.
But Wilbur is heartbroken even in death. And a question begins to haunt him: what if he could go back? What if time isn’t as fixed as we think? What if, by risking eternity itself, he could correct his mistakes and save the love he lost? His old friend Charlie believed that time is relative—that the past might still be part of the future. But interfering with time comes with a terrifying cost. Could Wilbur change his fate without erasing himself?
This story is romantic in the purest sense of the word. To me, it is much more a love story than a fantasy—an emotional, inspirational, beautifully tender drama about regret, devotion, and second chances. I loved its simplicity and its directness. It warmed my heart from the very first page to the last, and it earned every one of its five stars.
It was also one of my fastest, most absorbing reads—easy to fall into, impossible not to feel.
Highly recommended. 💫
A million thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Viking for sharing one of the most anticipated books of 2026 with me in exchange for my honest thoughts, which I truly and sincerely appreciate.
medium.com
twitter<
June 1, 2026
I’m really sad. Where's the magic? This was grossly underwhelming and nowhere near as emotionally engaging as I thought it would be.
I’ve always believed that some books find you exactly when you need them most, and that was the case with The Midnight Library. That book changed my life. I read it during a very uncertain and emotionally difficult period, and it felt like food for my soul. It helped me see life differently, and I’ll always be grateful not only that it exists, but that it found me when it did.
Sadly, I can’t say the same for this book.
The level of disconnect I felt from this story is unreal, and it kills me because this is the kind of story I usually enjoy. I was looking forward to it with what I can only describe as feverish delight? Desperate anticipation? I don’t even know.
The book makes reference to Ebenezer Scrooge and I was constantly reminded of A Christmas Carol while reading because they share a similar premise: a man revisiting moments from his life and being forced to confront himself and his choices.
What made A Christmas Carol work so well for me is that I immediately understood the urgency behind Scrooge’s journey. Before we’re shown his past we’re given the chance to know and feel something for his character. Whether it’s disgust, pity, sympathy or empathy. He makes you feel something. He’s despicable and mean, and some might even argue that he’s beyond redemption. So you’d ask yourself why a man like this even deserves a second chance. And maybe he doesn’t. The point is there’s a clear emotional and moral problem driving the narrative forward. And the story gives you a chance to not only root for him, but also learn from him by the time we reach the end of his journey.
That kind of emotional complexity is what I was looking for and what this story is missing for me.
81 year old Wilbur’s story begins with him dying and becoming trapped in a kind of purgatory that exists between death and eternity. He has to board the Midnight Train, which carries him through scenes from his life. He can get off and linger in certain memories, while others pass by in a blur, kind of like landscapes rushing past a train window. I really adore this concept. In many ways, The Midnight Train is meant to represent the idea of your life flashing before your eyes in the moments before you die. Was it a good life? Was it worth it in the end? Which memories stay with you? Which regrets haunt you still? And when you look back on it all, can you find it? The moment it all went wrong?
One of my issues with the way the story pans out is that we never really get to know Wilbur or his love interest, Maggie at the start of the story, and of course, that’s something the novel could’ve resolved over the course of its 300 pages. But for me, it never did because the characterisation felt flat. Both Maggie and Wilbur lack depth, and Maggie in particular was really underdeveloped. So by the time we start jumping in and out of scenes from Wilbur’s life, I was still struggling to find a reason to care about his plight. And that’s not to say he didn’t suffer or that he never made mistakes worth regretting. I simply never felt the urgency of his situation. And for me, a story like this needs all the emotional urgency it can fit between its pages.
Maggie and Wilbur’s relationship was clearly meant to be the emotional core of the story, the central thing the narrative was trying to heal, revisit, and resolve. But I couldn’t connect to either of them as characters, and because of that, I couldn’t connect to their relationship either. Naturally, that meant I never rooted for them. Frankly, at first Wilbur just seemed like a greedy punk who wanted to eat his cake and have it. A part of me kept thinking: everyone has it hard, Wilbur, so why exactly should I care about you getting a do-over? Why should I care about this one story? And I want to care enough to get to the point where I’m asking the hard questions.
Another thing I didn't enjoy is the writing style. I really can’t place my finger on why it didn’t work for me. The dialogues didn’t help either, and the narrative felt weirdly fragmented. Maybe that’s intentional because we’re rapidly moving through different periods of Wilbur’s life, jumping from memory to memory the same way thoughts flash through someone’s mind. I really don’t know.
The ending was also pretty predictable, though I usually don’t really mind predictability as long as I’m emotionally engaged and satisfied by the end. Which was not the case here.
But then I'd be lying if I said it was all bad. The book is still very faithful to the blueprint established by The Midnight Library in the sense that it celebrates life, human connection, and second chances. I gave it 3 stars because in spite of all my gripes with it, in the end it did make me ponder a bit over what it means to live and what moments make one’s existence meaningful.
Also, love the cover to bits.
I’ve always believed that some books find you exactly when you need them most, and that was the case with The Midnight Library. That book changed my life. I read it during a very uncertain and emotionally difficult period, and it felt like food for my soul. It helped me see life differently, and I’ll always be grateful not only that it exists, but that it found me when it did.
Sadly, I can’t say the same for this book.
The level of disconnect I felt from this story is unreal, and it kills me because this is the kind of story I usually enjoy. I was looking forward to it with what I can only describe as feverish delight? Desperate anticipation? I don’t even know.
The book makes reference to Ebenezer Scrooge and I was constantly reminded of A Christmas Carol while reading because they share a similar premise: a man revisiting moments from his life and being forced to confront himself and his choices.
What made A Christmas Carol work so well for me is that I immediately understood the urgency behind Scrooge’s journey. Before we’re shown his past we’re given the chance to know and feel something for his character. Whether it’s disgust, pity, sympathy or empathy. He makes you feel something. He’s despicable and mean, and some might even argue that he’s beyond redemption. So you’d ask yourself why a man like this even deserves a second chance. And maybe he doesn’t. The point is there’s a clear emotional and moral problem driving the narrative forward. And the story gives you a chance to not only root for him, but also learn from him by the time we reach the end of his journey.
That kind of emotional complexity is what I was looking for and what this story is missing for me.
81 year old Wilbur’s story begins with him dying and becoming trapped in a kind of purgatory that exists between death and eternity. He has to board the Midnight Train, which carries him through scenes from his life. He can get off and linger in certain memories, while others pass by in a blur, kind of like landscapes rushing past a train window. I really adore this concept. In many ways, The Midnight Train is meant to represent the idea of your life flashing before your eyes in the moments before you die. Was it a good life? Was it worth it in the end? Which memories stay with you? Which regrets haunt you still? And when you look back on it all, can you find it? The moment it all went wrong?
One of my issues with the way the story pans out is that we never really get to know Wilbur or his love interest, Maggie at the start of the story, and of course, that’s something the novel could’ve resolved over the course of its 300 pages. But for me, it never did because the characterisation felt flat. Both Maggie and Wilbur lack depth, and Maggie in particular was really underdeveloped. So by the time we start jumping in and out of scenes from Wilbur’s life, I was still struggling to find a reason to care about his plight. And that’s not to say he didn’t suffer or that he never made mistakes worth regretting. I simply never felt the urgency of his situation. And for me, a story like this needs all the emotional urgency it can fit between its pages.
Maggie and Wilbur’s relationship was clearly meant to be the emotional core of the story, the central thing the narrative was trying to heal, revisit, and resolve. But I couldn’t connect to either of them as characters, and because of that, I couldn’t connect to their relationship either. Naturally, that meant I never rooted for them. Frankly, at first Wilbur just seemed like a greedy punk who wanted to eat his cake and have it. A part of me kept thinking: everyone has it hard, Wilbur, so why exactly should I care about you getting a do-over? Why should I care about this one story? And I want to care enough to get to the point where I’m asking the hard questions.
Another thing I didn't enjoy is the writing style. I really can’t place my finger on why it didn’t work for me. The dialogues didn’t help either, and the narrative felt weirdly fragmented. Maybe that’s intentional because we’re rapidly moving through different periods of Wilbur’s life, jumping from memory to memory the same way thoughts flash through someone’s mind. I really don’t know.
The ending was also pretty predictable, though I usually don’t really mind predictability as long as I’m emotionally engaged and satisfied by the end. Which was not the case here.
But then I'd be lying if I said it was all bad. The book is still very faithful to the blueprint established by The Midnight Library in the sense that it celebrates life, human connection, and second chances. I gave it 3 stars because in spite of all my gripes with it, in the end it did make me ponder a bit over what it means to live and what moments make one’s existence meaningful.
Also, love the cover to bits.
May 26, 2026
My Reviews Can Also Be Found On:
The Book Review Crew Blog
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Midnight Train (The Midnight World #2)
Matt Haig
Publication Date: May 26th, 2026
HarperCollins Canada | HarperCollins Publishers
304 Pages
Amazon | Bookshop.org
Genre: General Fiction
The first book in the series is about what could have been; this second installment is about what was. What's best about Haig's Midnight World Series is the way he writes about the "what-ifs" of life.
This one is about Wilbur, who is an 81-year-old man who has died. Wilbur thinks the best days of his life were the ones spent with his (ex)wife, Maggie...especially their honeymoon in Venice. He is given the chance to live those moments over and maybe change his past. BUT nothing is ever free of consequence, and trying to rewrite history, even if it is your own, comes with a cost.
I love the way Haig writes about that "your life is flashing before your eyes" moment. Changing the library to a steam train is very nostalgic and reminded me of old noir films I watched with my grandma. (The railway metaphor was not lost on me.) We don't have a multiverse in this one; it's about one single, messy life.
Wilbur was a very relatable character. He was very flawed, and reading about him dealing with his younger self was so sad but very touching. I read one review that said this book is a balm for the soul, and it is so true. While it feels a bit familiar and sentimental, the message Haig is trying to put across is very heartwarming. Value your memories, even the hard ones, and don't focus too much on your regrets as long as you have a life that was well lived. I enjoyed this second book much more than the first, and I can't recommend it enough. All. The. Stars.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
The Book Review Crew Blog
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Midnight Train (The Midnight World #2)
Matt Haig
Publication Date: May 26th, 2026
HarperCollins Canada | HarperCollins Publishers
304 Pages
Amazon | Bookshop.org
Genre: General Fiction
The first book in the series is about what could have been; this second installment is about what was. What's best about Haig's Midnight World Series is the way he writes about the "what-ifs" of life.
This one is about Wilbur, who is an 81-year-old man who has died. Wilbur thinks the best days of his life were the ones spent with his (ex)wife, Maggie...especially their honeymoon in Venice. He is given the chance to live those moments over and maybe change his past. BUT nothing is ever free of consequence, and trying to rewrite history, even if it is your own, comes with a cost.
I love the way Haig writes about that "your life is flashing before your eyes" moment. Changing the library to a steam train is very nostalgic and reminded me of old noir films I watched with my grandma. (The railway metaphor was not lost on me.) We don't have a multiverse in this one; it's about one single, messy life.
Wilbur was a very relatable character. He was very flawed, and reading about him dealing with his younger self was so sad but very touching. I read one review that said this book is a balm for the soul, and it is so true. While it feels a bit familiar and sentimental, the message Haig is trying to put across is very heartwarming. Value your memories, even the hard ones, and don't focus too much on your regrets as long as you have a life that was well lived. I enjoyed this second book much more than the first, and I can't recommend it enough. All. The. Stars.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
June 11, 2026
“I don’t know where the past hides, but I will meet you there.”
Imagine this…
There is a train that can take you to your past. Knowing that the past has already happened, but that you can revisit it at the end of your life in search of understanding, forgiveness, or closure, would you board?
And if you did, and found yourself face to face with your younger self, would you be tempted to change something? To offer advice? A warning? A different path?
My Goodreads friend William de Rham described this book simply and perfectly:
“A very creative and interesting way to look at death, the afterlife, and what has come before.”
Maybe that is all this adventure is—a train ride wrapped in magical realism that gives its characters, and readers, an opportunity to pause and reflect on the lives they have lived.
But beneath the imaginative premise lies a deeper question. If you were given the chance to revisit your past, would you find peace with the choices you've made? Or would you discover that the life you longed for was waiting to be lived all along?
Thoughtful, poignant, and quietly contemplative, this novel is less about changing the past and more about understanding it. In the end, it asks us to consider not only how we will face death, but whether we are truly living our best life while we still have the chance.
Imagine this…
There is a train that can take you to your past. Knowing that the past has already happened, but that you can revisit it at the end of your life in search of understanding, forgiveness, or closure, would you board?
And if you did, and found yourself face to face with your younger self, would you be tempted to change something? To offer advice? A warning? A different path?
My Goodreads friend William de Rham described this book simply and perfectly:
“A very creative and interesting way to look at death, the afterlife, and what has come before.”
Maybe that is all this adventure is—a train ride wrapped in magical realism that gives its characters, and readers, an opportunity to pause and reflect on the lives they have lived.
But beneath the imaginative premise lies a deeper question. If you were given the chance to revisit your past, would you find peace with the choices you've made? Or would you discover that the life you longed for was waiting to be lived all along?
Thoughtful, poignant, and quietly contemplative, this novel is less about changing the past and more about understanding it. In the end, it asks us to consider not only how we will face death, but whether we are truly living our best life while we still have the chance.
June 11, 2026
“When your life flashes before your eyes, where would you stop?”
As someone who absolutely loved The Midnight Library, I went into The Midnight Train with very high expectations and somehow Matt Haig still managed to pull me aboard.
This is one of those books that feels deceptively simple at first. A train journey, a chance encounter, a hint of romance. But before long, it becomes something much bigger, a story about the roads we take, the ones we miss, and the people who leave unexpected fingerprints on our lives.
Matt Haig has a gift for taking huge existential questions and wrapping them in warm, accessible storytelling. Just like The Midnight Library, this novel explores regret, hope, connection, and the endless “what ifs” that follow us through life. The difference here is that the journey feels a little more intimate and romantic, while still carrying that signature Haig blend of heart and wonder.
What I loved most was how effortlessly readable it was. I kept telling myself “just one more chapter” and suddenly realised I was far deeper into the book than planned. The characters felt genuine, the emotional moments landed beautifully, and there were several passages that made me pause and reflect on my own life choices.
If you’re a fan of Matt Haig’s ability to balance optimism with melancholy, you’ll find a lot to love here. While The Midnight Library remains my personal favourite, The Midnight Train captures the same sense of possibility that made me fall in love with Haig’s writing in the first place.
I Highly Recommend.
Thank you Allen & Unwin for my advanced readers copy.
Available Now!
As someone who absolutely loved The Midnight Library, I went into The Midnight Train with very high expectations and somehow Matt Haig still managed to pull me aboard.
This is one of those books that feels deceptively simple at first. A train journey, a chance encounter, a hint of romance. But before long, it becomes something much bigger, a story about the roads we take, the ones we miss, and the people who leave unexpected fingerprints on our lives.
Matt Haig has a gift for taking huge existential questions and wrapping them in warm, accessible storytelling. Just like The Midnight Library, this novel explores regret, hope, connection, and the endless “what ifs” that follow us through life. The difference here is that the journey feels a little more intimate and romantic, while still carrying that signature Haig blend of heart and wonder.
What I loved most was how effortlessly readable it was. I kept telling myself “just one more chapter” and suddenly realised I was far deeper into the book than planned. The characters felt genuine, the emotional moments landed beautifully, and there were several passages that made me pause and reflect on my own life choices.
If you’re a fan of Matt Haig’s ability to balance optimism with melancholy, you’ll find a lot to love here. While The Midnight Library remains my personal favourite, The Midnight Train captures the same sense of possibility that made me fall in love with Haig’s writing in the first place.
I Highly Recommend.
Thank you Allen & Unwin for my advanced readers copy.
Available Now!
June 8, 2026
DNF at 53 percent.
All aboard. Disembark. All aboard. Disembark. All aboard... Lather. Rinse. Repeat.
The Midnight Train to Nowhere. 🚂
February 9, 2026
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
If you could ride a midnight train through your life, how many moments would be worth reliving? How many moments would be too painful to stop for? How many mistakes would you yearn to fix?
It’s an apt time for me to read this, as I reflect on my life and the fraught path I travel. I’d definitely skip over this part of my journey, starting straight forward, hoping against hope I’ll never have to look back.
A tender, heartwarming l novel, it reminds us that these individual moments we live all add up to a life. And in that life, we have regrets, we have things we take for granted, we have magical memories we wish to live in on a loop.
But we ultimately get none of that, and we have to come to terms with the elusiveness of joy to understand the importance of savoring it. I think we can all learn from Wilbur, and by realizing that we are dying in stages as we walk this earth, perhaps we can spend less time grieving the passing of your previous versions, and more time celebrating the current one.
Live life like today is the moment you’d return to if you could change only one day.
If you could ride a midnight train through your life, how many moments would be worth reliving? How many moments would be too painful to stop for? How many mistakes would you yearn to fix?
It’s an apt time for me to read this, as I reflect on my life and the fraught path I travel. I’d definitely skip over this part of my journey, starting straight forward, hoping against hope I’ll never have to look back.
A tender, heartwarming l novel, it reminds us that these individual moments we live all add up to a life. And in that life, we have regrets, we have things we take for granted, we have magical memories we wish to live in on a loop.
But we ultimately get none of that, and we have to come to terms with the elusiveness of joy to understand the importance of savoring it. I think we can all learn from Wilbur, and by realizing that we are dying in stages as we walk this earth, perhaps we can spend less time grieving the passing of your previous versions, and more time celebrating the current one.
Live life like today is the moment you’d return to if you could change only one day.
May 19, 2026
I wanted to love it, but sadly I never connected with the main character or the story. It didn’t feel as magical as maybe I had hoped. I do think it’s impossible for me to go into a book of Matt Haig’s with low expectations after loving The Midnight Library years ago.
Want to Read
October 17, 2025Matt Haig is one my all-time favorite authors.
I’m really looking forward to The Midnight Train being released and having the opportunity to read it.
Can’t wait!
I’m really looking forward to The Midnight Train being released and having the opportunity to read it.
Can’t wait!
June 20, 2026
4★
"It was then that Wilbur heard the whisper. Something up close in his ear. Cold breath. 'You need to keep hold of this.' It caused Wilbur to brush his ear.
. . .
But as he kept walking down the ramp, he heard something else.
A faint whistle, a rhythmical chugging.
Almost like a train leaving a station."
The ninth of August 1974. Wilbur and Maggie Budd are honeymooning in Venice, over-the-moon happy, daydreaming and imagining moving there to open a little bookshop. Once we've enjoyed the brief introduction that is the honeymoon, the main story starts.
FIFTY-TWO YEARS LATER
Wilbur dies very early in the story, just after we learn he regrets he hasn't spoken to Maggie in decades, so we know there's a lot of catching up for us to do. What better way to time travel than by steam train?
After he dies, he finds himself at a train station named "Wilbur", where he boards what appears to be the real steam engine, 'The Duke of Gloucester', a model of which his big brother had stolen for him that was his favourite toy. But – no – it isn't the Duke. The nameplate says "THE MIDNIGHT TRAIN".
Wilbur, aka The Ghost, has a personal escort on this journey, determined to keep him on track so he doesn't go off the rails – to overwork the railroading cliches. Mrs. Agnes Bagdale was the kindly bookshop owner who welcomed his browsing (reading) in her shop when he as a poor lad, and now she's also a ghost.
She is nervously pedantic about the rules, because if you break them, it seems you won't have an eternity.
Whatever you do, don't attempt to make contact in the past, or something dire and unmentionable will happen and you'll disappear for ever. Agnes never suggests fire and brimstone, but we certainly get the same feeling we'd have had as kids when ordered "to do as you're told or else!"
(I say 'you', because I like to suspend disbelief and go along for the ride.)
It's not going to be a smooth trip. As they rumble along in the train (not on a track or rails, incidentally, just through the air), Wilbur sees scenes from his life out the window.
Wilbur's father died in the war, shot down in the plane he was piloting. Suddenly, there it is, outside in the sky.
"The plane exploded into the sky and disappeared. Wilbur searched for it but it was gone and he felt its absence like a grief reborn. He had imagined the event a thousand times over, had spent countless hours as a child staring up to the clouds and thinking about it, wondering what his father had thought in his final moments."
He closes his eyes. This level of reality is too much for him, just as it was for Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol.
"Agnes spoke to him. 'It's a lot to absorb, admittedly. I understand that. But you must look out of the window where possible. I don't mean to be pedantic, but the whole point of a life flashing before your eyes is that you see it.'
So Wilbur forced himself to look."
We revisit the past with him, seeing things revealed in scenes that he would not have known at the time. Once, while his mother is pushing him, as a baby in a pram, she grabs his older brother, Dougie, away from a fight, and lays into him.
"'If your dad was here he'd knock you into next week.'
'Dad's dead, Mam. Hitler got him.'
She clipped the back of Dougie's head. 'Stop that talk out in the street.'
'But he is.'
'I bloody know that, lad. Left us with nothing but another mouth to feed, didn't he.'
And she stared down at baby Wilbur, like he was another problem she could really do without. She'd found a way through her grief. And it was called resentment."
Wilbur watches himself survive a tragic accident and begins to understand how he has let grief and anger shape his life just as his mother had learned to use resentment to deal with hers.
Haig has a fine sense of balance (which more of us could use). He doesn't avoid sorrow or grief, but he shows how to make those memories a part of your life, not the focus.
At one stop, Wilbur's best pal speaks of a book he's read about an African tradition of time that I think is similar to that of Aboriginal and other First Nations groups. Time is not a fixed thing – everything is woven together. (Einstein is in good company.)
Haig gives us plenty to think about and likeable people to think about it with. I finished reading The Midnight Library with a sense of optimism, and although this is very different, I feel the same way after reading this.
Thanks to #NetGalley and A&U Canongate for a preview copy of #TheMidnightTrain for review.
P.S.
My review of The Midnight Library
"It was then that Wilbur heard the whisper. Something up close in his ear. Cold breath. 'You need to keep hold of this.' It caused Wilbur to brush his ear.
. . .
But as he kept walking down the ramp, he heard something else.
A faint whistle, a rhythmical chugging.
Almost like a train leaving a station."
The ninth of August 1974. Wilbur and Maggie Budd are honeymooning in Venice, over-the-moon happy, daydreaming and imagining moving there to open a little bookshop. Once we've enjoyed the brief introduction that is the honeymoon, the main story starts.
FIFTY-TWO YEARS LATER
Wilbur dies very early in the story, just after we learn he regrets he hasn't spoken to Maggie in decades, so we know there's a lot of catching up for us to do. What better way to time travel than by steam train?
After he dies, he finds himself at a train station named "Wilbur", where he boards what appears to be the real steam engine, 'The Duke of Gloucester', a model of which his big brother had stolen for him that was his favourite toy. But – no – it isn't the Duke. The nameplate says "THE MIDNIGHT TRAIN".
Wilbur, aka The Ghost, has a personal escort on this journey, determined to keep him on track so he doesn't go off the rails – to overwork the railroading cliches. Mrs. Agnes Bagdale was the kindly bookshop owner who welcomed his browsing (reading) in her shop when he as a poor lad, and now she's also a ghost.
She is nervously pedantic about the rules, because if you break them, it seems you won't have an eternity.
Whatever you do, don't attempt to make contact in the past, or something dire and unmentionable will happen and you'll disappear for ever. Agnes never suggests fire and brimstone, but we certainly get the same feeling we'd have had as kids when ordered "to do as you're told or else!"
(I say 'you', because I like to suspend disbelief and go along for the ride.)
It's not going to be a smooth trip. As they rumble along in the train (not on a track or rails, incidentally, just through the air), Wilbur sees scenes from his life out the window.
Wilbur's father died in the war, shot down in the plane he was piloting. Suddenly, there it is, outside in the sky.
"The plane exploded into the sky and disappeared. Wilbur searched for it but it was gone and he felt its absence like a grief reborn. He had imagined the event a thousand times over, had spent countless hours as a child staring up to the clouds and thinking about it, wondering what his father had thought in his final moments."
He closes his eyes. This level of reality is too much for him, just as it was for Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol.
"Agnes spoke to him. 'It's a lot to absorb, admittedly. I understand that. But you must look out of the window where possible. I don't mean to be pedantic, but the whole point of a life flashing before your eyes is that you see it.'
So Wilbur forced himself to look."
We revisit the past with him, seeing things revealed in scenes that he would not have known at the time. Once, while his mother is pushing him, as a baby in a pram, she grabs his older brother, Dougie, away from a fight, and lays into him.
"'If your dad was here he'd knock you into next week.'
'Dad's dead, Mam. Hitler got him.'
She clipped the back of Dougie's head. 'Stop that talk out in the street.'
'But he is.'
'I bloody know that, lad. Left us with nothing but another mouth to feed, didn't he.'
And she stared down at baby Wilbur, like he was another problem she could really do without. She'd found a way through her grief. And it was called resentment."
Wilbur watches himself survive a tragic accident and begins to understand how he has let grief and anger shape his life just as his mother had learned to use resentment to deal with hers.
Haig has a fine sense of balance (which more of us could use). He doesn't avoid sorrow or grief, but he shows how to make those memories a part of your life, not the focus.
At one stop, Wilbur's best pal speaks of a book he's read about an African tradition of time that I think is similar to that of Aboriginal and other First Nations groups. Time is not a fixed thing – everything is woven together. (Einstein is in good company.)
Haig gives us plenty to think about and likeable people to think about it with. I finished reading The Midnight Library with a sense of optimism, and although this is very different, I feel the same way after reading this.
Thanks to #NetGalley and A&U Canongate for a preview copy of #TheMidnightTrain for review.
P.S.
My review of The Midnight Library
May 29, 2026
4.25 stars maybe?? 🤷🏻♀️ Seems I've read several good new books about the human condition in the last few weeks, and this one wasn't quite the stand-out, which is a shame as it's a good magic-realism novel. That's not the author's fault, the publisher could have moved up or delayed the release to differentiate it. I also wish I remembered "Magic Library" better, but as the author says in his note, this is not a sequel but more the same universe. And I liked using the train as a metaphor & setting to travel through a life with stops to see important events - that part worked quite well. I also enjoyed all the book love on display here. Wilbur (the ghost & past both) got a bit tiresome at times and also the metaphysics were a bit heavy handed in places. But what remained to me was LOVE in all its forms - the romantic, filial, platonic, occupational - they ARE the meaning of it all.
May 16, 2026
This felt like someone took A Christmas Carol, removed the ghosts, the urgency, and most of the personality, then stretched it across an emotionally delayed train schedule.
The premise sounded incredible: a magical midnight train that lets you revisit the moments that shaped your life? Amazing. Existential. Potentially devastating in the best way. Instead, I got a slow-moving ride through regret with all the excitement of waiting at the DMV.
Wilbur spends the book reflecting on his past, his marriage, and the choices he made, except the execution felt like being trapped in a very long therapy session I didn’t agree to pay for.
I kept waiting for some emotional gut punch or mind-bending revelation, but the story just kind of politely wandered around the tracks.
There were moments where Matt Haig’s signature warmth and introspection peeked through, and I can absolutely see this working for readers who love quiet, reflective stories. Unfortunately, I needed more plot and less “sad man thinks about things for 300 pages.”
And listen, I love an emotional story. I voluntarily read books designed to emotionally ruin me for fun. But this one somehow managed to be both sentimental and painfully dull at the same time. That’s honestly kind of impressive.
Also, if you mention Venice enough times, I start expecting something dramatic to happen. A scandal. A murder. Someone falling into a canal. Anything.
In the end, this wasn’t a terrible book. It just felt like a very long inspirational quote riding public transportation.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Viking for this review copy.
The premise sounded incredible: a magical midnight train that lets you revisit the moments that shaped your life? Amazing. Existential. Potentially devastating in the best way. Instead, I got a slow-moving ride through regret with all the excitement of waiting at the DMV.
Wilbur spends the book reflecting on his past, his marriage, and the choices he made, except the execution felt like being trapped in a very long therapy session I didn’t agree to pay for.
I kept waiting for some emotional gut punch or mind-bending revelation, but the story just kind of politely wandered around the tracks.
There were moments where Matt Haig’s signature warmth and introspection peeked through, and I can absolutely see this working for readers who love quiet, reflective stories. Unfortunately, I needed more plot and less “sad man thinks about things for 300 pages.”
And listen, I love an emotional story. I voluntarily read books designed to emotionally ruin me for fun. But this one somehow managed to be both sentimental and painfully dull at the same time. That’s honestly kind of impressive.
Also, if you mention Venice enough times, I start expecting something dramatic to happen. A scandal. A murder. Someone falling into a canal. Anything.
In the end, this wasn’t a terrible book. It just felt like a very long inspirational quote riding public transportation.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Viking for this review copy.
May 31, 2026
I absolutely loved this cozy, life-affirming read!!!
I loved how it both felt connected to The Midnight Library but also had it's own feel, it's own theme, and it's own plot. I resonated so much with it which honestly made it a little tough to read at times - it was giving me a reality check I didn't know I needed!!!!
I LOVE a fiction mixed with romance & magical realism, especially when that magical element is giving time travel - and this one gave me everything I wanted.
Thank you to Viking books for the copy!
I loved how it both felt connected to The Midnight Library but also had it's own feel, it's own theme, and it's own plot. I resonated so much with it which honestly made it a little tough to read at times - it was giving me a reality check I didn't know I needed!!!!
I LOVE a fiction mixed with romance & magical realism, especially when that magical element is giving time travel - and this one gave me everything I wanted.
Thank you to Viking books for the copy!
June 6, 2026
I do like Matt haig, he has a way of making you think about deep issues. This one did that as well, although it didn’t quite opened up the floodgates like how to stop time did. But it was still interesting, and still lovely. But not earth-shattering (for me at least).
January 11, 2026
If you read and enjoyed the Midnight Library, you will love this book as well. It is poignant, reflective, and fraught with the perils and plights of life. While the storyline feels very much like A Christmas Carol by Dickens, it does also include moments that really make the reader think. There are several quotes in this book that you’ll want to remember in your own life. Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy.
June 22, 2026
9 August 1974, Venice.
Maggie and Wilbur Budd are on honeymoon, first time out of the country, so in love, so happy!
But he starts talking about the bookshop, of asking a loan to the bank to upgrade the store, and then preparing to enjoy a wonderful meal in one of the best restaurants in Venice.
52 years later.
Wilbur, 81 years-old, dies alone in the hospital a minute after midnight.
Before, at home, he briefly talked to Maggie on the phone, after 30 years, because she had dreamed of him.
The moment his heart stopped and he was dead, he starts falling through light, then darkness, a sense of a young body, no aches, almost alive.
He's in a train platform that instead of a name just said "Wilbur", and soon a steaming engine train arrives and a lady gets out.
Her name is Agnes.
She's a ghost and her mission will be to guide him through the life he had just lived.
She looks familiar because she was Agnes Bagsdale, owner of the bookshop in Sheffield when he was a little boy, an amazing person who could match a book with almost everyone and that used to say "Books are mirrors for the soul."
Not an old lady now, but herself in 1921 before the shop.
Reality is different in death and it takes time to get used to it, but the rules are simple.
When the train stops he will be going back in time as a ghost, back to a very real and living world, the final destiny eternity!
He gets on and off the train, he never tries to speak to himself and he must never be there when the living him falls asleep.
The purpose of the train is to help him understand his life!
He's dressed exactly when he was 29, on his honeymoon, the time when he became closest to his true self.
The first stop he sees is his father 's plane exploding in WWII, he wasn't even born, and he closes his eyes.
But the point of life flashing before one's eyes is that he had to see it, Agnes said.
The next one he sees himself as a baby in the pram, with is mother and his brother Dougie, and Wilbur, the Ghost, tried to interact with them.
Then the first time he saw Maggie.
Days, weeks, months, years flashed by, sometimes the stops lasted only a few minutes, sometimes hours.
He started to work at the bookshop during Saturdays, having the same gift as Mrs. Bagsdale, at the time already deceased.
When they arrive at 27 July 1964 he refuses to get out of the train, but he had no choice but witness his brother's death again, feeling guilty, grief and pain, and the course of his life takes a different path!
He started working 6 days a week at the bookshop, and when Wilbur and Maggie meet at the cemetery the Ghost whispered him what he had to do.
And maybe he didn't hear him, but something got through and he created a difference in the timeline and the train almost go off track.
If that happened he would disappear at the same time as te Midnight Train!
Agnes was furious with him, he could have ruined everything.
He wouldn't get his eternity and would never see Maggie again!
The Ghost watched the love between Wilbur and Maggie blooming, leading to their marriage and the honeymoon in Venice.
When that stop arrived the Ghost remembered that Wilbur had seen him there too and he had a plan.
Agnes tried to reason with him but he wouldn't go back to the train.
Wilbur fell asleep and he saw the Ghost, his doppelganger, when he opened his eyes in the dream.
And the train came for both of them, because Wilbur would be shown his own future, and he became the Dreamer.
The Ghost wanted to give the Dreamer a chance to choose a different path, if all went well, not ending like he did!
The Dreamer saw himself working hard, got the loan, transfering his emotions to something less personal, and the Ghost told him he would be rich, famous, would win awards, and at the peak there would be more then two hundreed Bud Bookshops!
He was in shock, amazed!
"Love is the thing that hurt, and business was the opposite."
But he didn't understand why Maggie didn't appear more in the images they were seeing, him always alone and treating his mother unkindly and his best friend Charlie too. That he wasn't there for Maggie when she needed him and that he no longer cared about books or readers!
"Love is a garden. You have to keep tending to it."
The Ghost wondered "why he hadn't been better at it, at living in time, while he had the chance."
And that "to live fully was the best way to die."!
And "The only way to learn is to live."
Will the Dreamer gets the message of what he was seeing?
The Ghost hoped so!
(Aknowledgements: ... a book ... "About the importance of reading stories throughout life, of being transported into other lives and places and worlds.")
Maggie and Wilbur Budd are on honeymoon, first time out of the country, so in love, so happy!
But he starts talking about the bookshop, of asking a loan to the bank to upgrade the store, and then preparing to enjoy a wonderful meal in one of the best restaurants in Venice.
52 years later.
Wilbur, 81 years-old, dies alone in the hospital a minute after midnight.
Before, at home, he briefly talked to Maggie on the phone, after 30 years, because she had dreamed of him.
The moment his heart stopped and he was dead, he starts falling through light, then darkness, a sense of a young body, no aches, almost alive.
He's in a train platform that instead of a name just said "Wilbur", and soon a steaming engine train arrives and a lady gets out.
Her name is Agnes.
She's a ghost and her mission will be to guide him through the life he had just lived.
She looks familiar because she was Agnes Bagsdale, owner of the bookshop in Sheffield when he was a little boy, an amazing person who could match a book with almost everyone and that used to say "Books are mirrors for the soul."
Not an old lady now, but herself in 1921 before the shop.
Reality is different in death and it takes time to get used to it, but the rules are simple.
When the train stops he will be going back in time as a ghost, back to a very real and living world, the final destiny eternity!
He gets on and off the train, he never tries to speak to himself and he must never be there when the living him falls asleep.
The purpose of the train is to help him understand his life!
He's dressed exactly when he was 29, on his honeymoon, the time when he became closest to his true self.
The first stop he sees is his father 's plane exploding in WWII, he wasn't even born, and he closes his eyes.
But the point of life flashing before one's eyes is that he had to see it, Agnes said.
The next one he sees himself as a baby in the pram, with is mother and his brother Dougie, and Wilbur, the Ghost, tried to interact with them.
Then the first time he saw Maggie.
Days, weeks, months, years flashed by, sometimes the stops lasted only a few minutes, sometimes hours.
He started to work at the bookshop during Saturdays, having the same gift as Mrs. Bagsdale, at the time already deceased.
When they arrive at 27 July 1964 he refuses to get out of the train, but he had no choice but witness his brother's death again, feeling guilty, grief and pain, and the course of his life takes a different path!
He started working 6 days a week at the bookshop, and when Wilbur and Maggie meet at the cemetery the Ghost whispered him what he had to do.
And maybe he didn't hear him, but something got through and he created a difference in the timeline and the train almost go off track.
If that happened he would disappear at the same time as te Midnight Train!
Agnes was furious with him, he could have ruined everything.
He wouldn't get his eternity and would never see Maggie again!
The Ghost watched the love between Wilbur and Maggie blooming, leading to their marriage and the honeymoon in Venice.
When that stop arrived the Ghost remembered that Wilbur had seen him there too and he had a plan.
Agnes tried to reason with him but he wouldn't go back to the train.
Wilbur fell asleep and he saw the Ghost, his doppelganger, when he opened his eyes in the dream.
And the train came for both of them, because Wilbur would be shown his own future, and he became the Dreamer.
The Ghost wanted to give the Dreamer a chance to choose a different path, if all went well, not ending like he did!
The Dreamer saw himself working hard, got the loan, transfering his emotions to something less personal, and the Ghost told him he would be rich, famous, would win awards, and at the peak there would be more then two hundreed Bud Bookshops!
He was in shock, amazed!
"Love is the thing that hurt, and business was the opposite."
But he didn't understand why Maggie didn't appear more in the images they were seeing, him always alone and treating his mother unkindly and his best friend Charlie too. That he wasn't there for Maggie when she needed him and that he no longer cared about books or readers!
"Love is a garden. You have to keep tending to it."
The Ghost wondered "why he hadn't been better at it, at living in time, while he had the chance."
And that "to live fully was the best way to die."!
And "The only way to learn is to live."
Will the Dreamer gets the message of what he was seeing?
The Ghost hoped so!
(Aknowledgements: ... a book ... "About the importance of reading stories throughout life, of being transported into other lives and places and worlds.")
June 11, 2026
Wilbur Budd is 81 yrs old and upon his final breath he meets Agnes, a dear old friend and bookshop owner.
The Midnight Train arrives and Agnes guides Wilbur aboard. The train will take him on a journey from his life as a young child to the moment of his death so he can see his life's events both good and bad. He witnesses all in real time but is not to try to alter anything or he won't arrive in Eternity.
We observe all of the moments that shaped Wilbur from tragedies that shattered him to the love that defined him and where everything went wrong.
A reflection on what is important in this life The Midnight Train is a magical and beautiful story.
Highly Recommended!
Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Canada for an arc of this novel in exchange for my honest review.
The Midnight Train arrives and Agnes guides Wilbur aboard. The train will take him on a journey from his life as a young child to the moment of his death so he can see his life's events both good and bad. He witnesses all in real time but is not to try to alter anything or he won't arrive in Eternity.
We observe all of the moments that shaped Wilbur from tragedies that shattered him to the love that defined him and where everything went wrong.
A reflection on what is important in this life The Midnight Train is a magical and beautiful story.
Highly Recommended!
Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Canada for an arc of this novel in exchange for my honest review.
June 12, 2026
En su momento me gustó tanto La biblioteca de medianoche, que claramente tenía que leer este libro.
La historia sigue a un hombre que después de morir se sube a un tren en el que va recorriendo todos los momentos de su vida, los felices, los dolorosos, los vergonzosos y también esos de los que se arrepiente.
Da lugar a muchas reflexiones sobre las decisiones que tomamos y las oportunidades que dejamos pasar.
Leí varios libros de Matt Haig, pero los de este universo son mis favoritos. Son historias que, más allá de la trama, siempre dejan alguna enseñanza respecto a la vida misma.
Mi única crítica es que gran parte de los arrepentimientos y las reflexiones giran alrededor del amor romántico. Tiene momentos relacionados con la familia, la amistad y otros aspectos de la vida, pero me hubiera gustado que explorara esos temas con la misma profundidad.
Es una historia cálida, emotiva y fácil de leer. No me pareció tan inolvidable como La biblioteca de medianoche, pero igual dejó una linda sensación al terminarla.
La historia sigue a un hombre que después de morir se sube a un tren en el que va recorriendo todos los momentos de su vida, los felices, los dolorosos, los vergonzosos y también esos de los que se arrepiente.
Da lugar a muchas reflexiones sobre las decisiones que tomamos y las oportunidades que dejamos pasar.
Leí varios libros de Matt Haig, pero los de este universo son mis favoritos. Son historias que, más allá de la trama, siempre dejan alguna enseñanza respecto a la vida misma.
Mi única crítica es que gran parte de los arrepentimientos y las reflexiones giran alrededor del amor romántico. Tiene momentos relacionados con la familia, la amistad y otros aspectos de la vida, pero me hubiera gustado que explorara esos temas con la misma profundidad.
Es una historia cálida, emotiva y fácil de leer. No me pareció tan inolvidable como La biblioteca de medianoche, pero igual dejó una linda sensación al terminarla.
May 16, 2026
Another beautiful and magical book from Matt Haig. I loved The Midnight Library and jumped at the chance to read another book set in this universe. This isn’t a sequel, it is a story that makes the reader stop and think about what moments in their own lives would important enough to visit again after your death.
All aboard the Midnight Train. Wilbur Budd is 81 years old when his life suddenly ends, and he is alone. Some might think he had a fabulous life, he is rich beyond his wildest dreams but he is alone and has regrets, so many regrets. Before he can pass to his afterlife he is taken on a journey through his own life where he can see it with a fresh perspective, as much as it is going to hurt.
I loved this reflection on what is important in this life. Wilbur grew up poor and had so much tragedy in his life. He wanted a better life for himself and his bride Maggie. But money and a chain of bookshops are not the be all and end all in life. It is about the little things, the people that you love and who love you.
Wilbur was a tough character to warm to at times, he really did make some bad decisions. He is a book seller and loved nothing more than to recommend books to people and see them love it too. But as he gets older his focus changes and he loses what made him the man he was.
A story of loss and love, of life and death, or what matters the most, and of books. What’s not to love.
Thanks so much to Allen and Unwin for my early copy to read and the amazing box of goodies to open as I went, so fun and so appreciative
Get on board the midnight train on May 26th,
All aboard the Midnight Train. Wilbur Budd is 81 years old when his life suddenly ends, and he is alone. Some might think he had a fabulous life, he is rich beyond his wildest dreams but he is alone and has regrets, so many regrets. Before he can pass to his afterlife he is taken on a journey through his own life where he can see it with a fresh perspective, as much as it is going to hurt.
I loved this reflection on what is important in this life. Wilbur grew up poor and had so much tragedy in his life. He wanted a better life for himself and his bride Maggie. But money and a chain of bookshops are not the be all and end all in life. It is about the little things, the people that you love and who love you.
Wilbur was a tough character to warm to at times, he really did make some bad decisions. He is a book seller and loved nothing more than to recommend books to people and see them love it too. But as he gets older his focus changes and he loses what made him the man he was.
A story of loss and love, of life and death, or what matters the most, and of books. What’s not to love.
Thanks so much to Allen and Unwin for my early copy to read and the amazing box of goodies to open as I went, so fun and so appreciative
Get on board the midnight train on May 26th,
May 26, 2026
What can I say about this book that hasn't already been said other than I LOVED it!!! I read it over the weekend. I had thoroughly enjoyed the Midnight Library but this tops that one for me.
Wilbur was a great character. Starting at the end with him and travelling back over his life was a wonderful way to tell a story. Which of us wouldn't like to go back and change things? I know I definitely would.
All the way through I was wondering how it was going to end and I'm glad to say it was very satisfactory. Agnes, his guide on the train, was a hoot.
There are many emotions in this book and I went through each and everyone of them with Wilbur.
A fantastic read and I'd highly recommend it!!!
Wilbur was a great character. Starting at the end with him and travelling back over his life was a wonderful way to tell a story. Which of us wouldn't like to go back and change things? I know I definitely would.
All the way through I was wondering how it was going to end and I'm glad to say it was very satisfactory. Agnes, his guide on the train, was a hoot.
There are many emotions in this book and I went through each and everyone of them with Wilbur.
A fantastic read and I'd highly recommend it!!!
May 22, 2026
This is The Midnight Library’s poor cousin … who is dull .. and may as well not exist. I was so looking forward to this release. Gutted!
February 13, 2026
Incredibly corny and predictable. A few good lines and sentiments here and there but basically a more magical/modern version of A Christmas Carol. I read the Midnight Library years ago and gave it 5 stars but now I’m suspicious of my own review. All characters are completely one dimensional, I felt no emotional depth in this story. Sorry but Matt Haig should not be near any historical fiction.
Thanks NetGalley for the ARC
Thanks NetGalley for the ARC
June 17, 2026
ادامهای بیجان، کشآمده و کاملاً مصرفی بر موفقیت یک ایده که قبلاً جوابداده. حس غالبم موقع خواندن این بود که نویسنده نه از سر ضرورت داستانی، نه از سر اشتیاق، نه حتی از سر داشتن حرف تازه، بلکه صرفاً چون کتاب قبلی موفق بوده، مجبور شده دوباره همان حالوهوا را احضار کند و چیزی شبیه ادامه تحویل بدهد. نتیجه هم بهطرز آزاردهندهای مصنوعی از کار درآمده؛ انگار تمام کتاب با این هدف نوشته شده که خواننده را وادار کند تحت تأثیر قرار بگیرد، نه اینکه واقعاً چیزی برای تأثیرگذاری داشته باشد.
بزرگترین مشکل کتاب این است که تقریباً از همان ابتدا مسیرش لو میرود. داستان هیچ غافلگیری جدیای ندارد، هیچ پیچش واقعاً تکاندهندهای نمیسازد و هیچوقت از محدودهی امن و قابلپیشبینی خودش بیرون نمیزند. هر جا قرار است تعلیق بسازد، جلوتر از متن میفهمی قرار است چه شود. هر جا قرار است احساساتت را درگیر کند، آنقدر با جملههای آماده، پندهای زندگی و دیالوگهای اکلیلی جلو میآید که اثرش کاملاً برعکس میشود. بهجای اینکه درگیر رنج، حسرت، مرگ، عشق یا گذشتهی شخصیتها شوم، مدام حس میکردم دارم نسخهی رمانشدهی یک صفحهی انگیزشی اینستاگرامی را میخوانم.
۳۰۰ صفحه شعار، تأملات دمدستی دربارهی زندگی و مرگ، جملههایی که انگار برای هایلایت شدن نوشته شدهاند و یک خط داستانی که با کمترین جسارت ممکن پیش میرود. مسئله این نیست که کتاب احساساتی است؛ مسئله این است که احساساتش ساخته نمی��شوند، پشت بلندگو و رو به دوربین اعلام میشوند. شخصیتها به جای اینکه زندگی کنند، حامل پیاماند. موقعیتها به جای اینکه تنش واقعی داشته باشند، بهانهای میشوند برای چند جملهی قشنگ دربارهی زمان، عشق، خاطره، پذیرش و فرصتهای ازدسترفته. بعد از مدتی دیگر هیچکدام از اینها عمق ندارد؛ فقط تکرار میشود، ورم میکند و کتاب را از نفس میاندازد.
پایان هم همانقدر که قابل حدس بود، روح و روان آدم را آزار میداد. از آن پایانهای خوش مرتب و تمیز که انگار قرار است همهچیز را با یک حس خوب اجباری جمع کند؛ بیآنکه واقعاً بهای عاطفی یا روایی قابلقبولی برایش پرداخته شده باشد. کتاب مدام دربارهی زندگی حرف میزند، اما خودش نشانی از حیات ندارد. دربارهی حسرت حرف میزند، اما حسرتش آماده و بستهبندیشده است. دربارهی مرگ حرف میزند، اما حتی مرگ هم در آن تبدیل میشود به یک ابزار مرتب برای رسیدن به پیام نهایی.
برای من این کتاب نمونهی کامل سوءاستفاده از موفقیت یک ایدهی موفق بود. نه تازگی داشت و نه جسارت. فقط یک دنبالهی کشدار، کلیشهای و بیشازحد احساساتی که با انبوهی جملهی برقدار سعی میکند جای داستانگویی واقعی را پر کند. خواندنش بیشتر از اینکه تجربهی ادبی باشد، شبیه تحمل یک سخنرانی طولانی دربارهی معنای زندگی بود؛ سخنرانیای که از دقیقهی دهم میدانی به کجا ختم میشود، اما مجبور میشوی تا آخر بنشینی.
بزرگترین مشکل کتاب این است که تقریباً از همان ابتدا مسیرش لو میرود. داستان هیچ غافلگیری جدیای ندارد، هیچ پیچش واقعاً تکاندهندهای نمیسازد و هیچوقت از محدودهی امن و قابلپیشبینی خودش بیرون نمیزند. هر جا قرار است تعلیق بسازد، جلوتر از متن میفهمی قرار است چه شود. هر جا قرار است احساساتت را درگیر کند، آنقدر با جملههای آماده، پندهای زندگی و دیالوگهای اکلیلی جلو میآید که اثرش کاملاً برعکس میشود. بهجای اینکه درگیر رنج، حسرت، مرگ، عشق یا گذشتهی شخصیتها شوم، مدام حس میکردم دارم نسخهی رمانشدهی یک صفحهی انگیزشی اینستاگرامی را میخوانم.
۳۰۰ صفحه شعار، تأملات دمدستی دربارهی زندگی و مرگ، جملههایی که انگار برای هایلایت شدن نوشته شدهاند و یک خط داستانی که با کمترین جسارت ممکن پیش میرود. مسئله این نیست که کتاب احساساتی است؛ مسئله این است که احساساتش ساخته نمی��شوند، پشت بلندگو و رو به دوربین اعلام میشوند. شخصیتها به جای اینکه زندگی کنند، حامل پیاماند. موقعیتها به جای اینکه تنش واقعی داشته باشند، بهانهای میشوند برای چند جملهی قشنگ دربارهی زمان، عشق، خاطره، پذیرش و فرصتهای ازدسترفته. بعد از مدتی دیگر هیچکدام از اینها عمق ندارد؛ فقط تکرار میشود، ورم میکند و کتاب را از نفس میاندازد.
پایان هم همانقدر که قابل حدس بود، روح و روان آدم را آزار میداد. از آن پایانهای خوش مرتب و تمیز که انگار قرار است همهچیز را با یک حس خوب اجباری جمع کند؛ بیآنکه واقعاً بهای عاطفی یا روایی قابلقبولی برایش پرداخته شده باشد. کتاب مدام دربارهی زندگی حرف میزند، اما خودش نشانی از حیات ندارد. دربارهی حسرت حرف میزند، اما حسرتش آماده و بستهبندیشده است. دربارهی مرگ حرف میزند، اما حتی مرگ هم در آن تبدیل میشود به یک ابزار مرتب برای رسیدن به پیام نهایی.
برای من این کتاب نمونهی کامل سوءاستفاده از موفقیت یک ایدهی موفق بود. نه تازگی داشت و نه جسارت. فقط یک دنبالهی کشدار، کلیشهای و بیشازحد احساساتی که با انبوهی جملهی برقدار سعی میکند جای داستانگویی واقعی را پر کند. خواندنش بیشتر از اینکه تجربهی ادبی باشد، شبیه تحمل یک سخنرانی طولانی دربارهی معنای زندگی بود؛ سخنرانیای که از دقیقهی دهم میدانی به کجا ختم میشود، اما مجبور میشوی تا آخر بنشینی.
June 22, 2026
What would your life look like if you made different choices? What would your life look like if you really appreciated what you currently have? How do you define success? How does that definition of success look like when you've reached it, and would you be willing to sacrifice all of the love in your life for it? These are the kinds of questions posed by this book. I loved The Midnight Library, so I was really looking forward to the follow-up, The Midnight Train.
To be totally honest, this book reminded me of a mashup between A Christmas Carol and the movie You've Got Mail. It almost felt like reading an alternate reality, or a timeline where Tom Hanks’ corporate character never met Meg Ryan, kept chasing money, and just turned into Ebenezer Scrooge. It follows a man on his deathbed who takes a train journey through his past milestones in his life, looking back with a lot of nostalgia and yearning for a lost love. This story has a deep tone of melancholy, and themes of exploring the pain of regret.
I think this story primarily focuses on not appreciating a partner and loved ones, being too consumed by chasing money, the elusive idea of growing a business, and sacrificing time spent with your loved ones instead. It explores being a workaholic, neglecting family, falling out of love with a partner, and it dives into how a person can completely change when they prioritize profit and corporate growth.
Matt Haig writes the romance beautifully, especially the early-on imagery of the honeymoon in Venice, Italy. I love books that feature a lot of yearning and nostalgic emotions. He also peppers in some bookish nods, like The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck as a story of resilience when he was experiencing deep depression, and Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino, which was mentioned as part of his connection with Maggie, the love of his life. I like that he only used a handful of references instead of bombarding the reader with tons of book mentions like some other books do.
The most impactful part for me was the brutally honest and bleak look at becoming a workaholic. The main male character gets so deluded by profits, projections, and corporate expansion that he completely marries his job and treats everyone around him like garbage (especially his wife, Maggie!). I felt awful for her. There was one line during a heartbreaking confrontation with her that literally made my jaw drop, something along the lines of, "I wish I was the stock market so you would pay attention to me." It just completely hits you in the chest with all the built-up pain and layers of trauma from the scene.
Thankfully, I will say, the book delivers a happily ever after. I was honestly grateful for the redemptive ending, because it was heading in such a sad direction that I was genuinely relieved it gave the readers some sense of happiness by the end. My only real critique is that from an originality standpoint, it doesn't bring a whole lot of new elements to the table. It feels very much like a literal retelling of A Christmas Carol, just not set during the holidays.
Still, overall, I appreciate the message about appreciating what you have, and the overall theme of love. I think it’s an engaging, easy read that makes you think about how to spend your time in the present moment, instead of constantly worrying about the future.
Read if you love:
❤️ A Christmas Carol
✨️ Click
📚 You've Got Mail
🧡 The Someday Garden by Ashley Poston
Trigger Warnings: Deep grief, loss of family members, and child loss.
To be totally honest, this book reminded me of a mashup between A Christmas Carol and the movie You've Got Mail. It almost felt like reading an alternate reality, or a timeline where Tom Hanks’ corporate character never met Meg Ryan, kept chasing money, and just turned into Ebenezer Scrooge. It follows a man on his deathbed who takes a train journey through his past milestones in his life, looking back with a lot of nostalgia and yearning for a lost love. This story has a deep tone of melancholy, and themes of exploring the pain of regret.
I think this story primarily focuses on not appreciating a partner and loved ones, being too consumed by chasing money, the elusive idea of growing a business, and sacrificing time spent with your loved ones instead. It explores being a workaholic, neglecting family, falling out of love with a partner, and it dives into how a person can completely change when they prioritize profit and corporate growth.
Matt Haig writes the romance beautifully, especially the early-on imagery of the honeymoon in Venice, Italy. I love books that feature a lot of yearning and nostalgic emotions. He also peppers in some bookish nods, like The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck as a story of resilience when he was experiencing deep depression, and Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino, which was mentioned as part of his connection with Maggie, the love of his life. I like that he only used a handful of references instead of bombarding the reader with tons of book mentions like some other books do.
The most impactful part for me was the brutally honest and bleak look at becoming a workaholic. The main male character gets so deluded by profits, projections, and corporate expansion that he completely marries his job and treats everyone around him like garbage (especially his wife, Maggie!). I felt awful for her. There was one line during a heartbreaking confrontation with her that literally made my jaw drop, something along the lines of, "I wish I was the stock market so you would pay attention to me." It just completely hits you in the chest with all the built-up pain and layers of trauma from the scene.
Thankfully, I will say, the book delivers a happily ever after. I was honestly grateful for the redemptive ending, because it was heading in such a sad direction that I was genuinely relieved it gave the readers some sense of happiness by the end. My only real critique is that from an originality standpoint, it doesn't bring a whole lot of new elements to the table. It feels very much like a literal retelling of A Christmas Carol, just not set during the holidays.
Still, overall, I appreciate the message about appreciating what you have, and the overall theme of love. I think it’s an engaging, easy read that makes you think about how to spend your time in the present moment, instead of constantly worrying about the future.
Read if you love:
❤️ A Christmas Carol
✨️ Click
📚 You've Got Mail
🧡 The Someday Garden by Ashley Poston
Trigger Warnings: Deep grief, loss of family members, and child loss.
June 9, 2026
3.5-4
Another beautiful story from Matt Haig about looking at our life and seeing the beauty in the stillness. If you loved the Midnight Library make sure you read this!
Another beautiful story from Matt Haig about looking at our life and seeing the beauty in the stillness. If you loved the Midnight Library make sure you read this!
June 13, 2026
The Midnight World Matt Haig has created is just so good! The Midnight Library is one of my favorite books, I love the way the author explores “what if’s” and what could have been/could be. With this next installment, The Midnight Train explores what has already been.
“When your life flashes before your eyes, where would you stop?”
We follow Wilbur, first we see him as a newlywed in Venice with the love of his life Maggie. Then we flash forward to Wilbur living on his own in his 80s, he received a letter from Maggie (who he is no longer with) and he ends up passing away shortly after. From there we follow ghost-Wilbur as he boards the midnight train and is swept back through time and memories of his life, of everything that happened and made him the person he was. He can’t change the past but he can see it all play back, relive those moments that meant the most, see things from a different perspective, see the love of his life again. Almost like The Christmas Carol except he’s literally a ghost. I loved the characters we see and meet, loved Wilbur’s reflections back on his life, his past, his choices, his wishing he did things differently. So many great quotes throughout!
“Maybe that’s all ghosts were. The dead gazing at their past.”
The author’s writing is just so good! I was instantly swept up in the story and couldn’t get enough. It reads so fast, the audiobook is just a little over 8 hours and I feel like time flew by. I had the best time and I’m so glad I got to this!
“When your life flashes before your eyes, where would you stop?”
We follow Wilbur, first we see him as a newlywed in Venice with the love of his life Maggie. Then we flash forward to Wilbur living on his own in his 80s, he received a letter from Maggie (who he is no longer with) and he ends up passing away shortly after. From there we follow ghost-Wilbur as he boards the midnight train and is swept back through time and memories of his life, of everything that happened and made him the person he was. He can’t change the past but he can see it all play back, relive those moments that meant the most, see things from a different perspective, see the love of his life again. Almost like The Christmas Carol except he’s literally a ghost. I loved the characters we see and meet, loved Wilbur’s reflections back on his life, his past, his choices, his wishing he did things differently. So many great quotes throughout!
“Maybe that’s all ghosts were. The dead gazing at their past.”
The author’s writing is just so good! I was instantly swept up in the story and couldn’t get enough. It reads so fast, the audiobook is just a little over 8 hours and I feel like time flew by. I had the best time and I’m so glad I got to this!
June 17, 2026
4.5 stars
May 27, 2026
I absolutely loved The Midnight Library, and it genuinely changed my life, so I was incredibly excited to read Midnight Train. Unfortunately, this one didn’t have the same flavour or pacing for me, and I found myself struggling to stay invested in the story. While it ultimately wasn’t the right fit for me personally, I’m still grateful for the chance to read it and will absolutely continue checking out this author’s future work.
Thank you to NetGalley, HarperCollins Canada, and Matt Haig for the Arc in exchange for an honest review of the book.
Thank you to NetGalley, HarperCollins Canada, and Matt Haig for the Arc in exchange for an honest review of the book.
Want to Read
February 8, 202607 Feb 2026. Oh my God! I need it now!
I loved, luvvved, LOVED the Midnight Library, even though it's such a sad story (now that I think of it once again). I expect this one to be equally transformative as well!!
Godspeed to this book's publication!
I loved, luvvved, LOVED the Midnight Library, even though it's such a sad story (now that I think of it once again). I expect this one to be equally transformative as well!!
Godspeed to this book's publication!
June 14, 2026
I finished this in one sitting. After his death, Wilbur finds himself on a train that takes him through life, starting with his baby years and going up through his death. His relationship with his wife was a very prevalent part of the story, as you watch their relationship unfold. Charles Dicken’s “A Christmas Carol” is referenced in the book, which this book definitely reminded me of at many times. I also loved the idea of a bookseller being able recommend a book simply by looking at them. The love of books definitely flows through this book, not quite as heavily as The Midnight Library. This could certainly be read as a standalone, but there were some ties into The Midnight Library. The navigation of relationships and reevaluating priorities was wonderfully thought out here and, whilst not necessarily a self help book, provided much for the reader to ponder not only in one’s life, but also imagining afterlife/eternity. I definitely enjoyed this book for its unique telling and would recommend this read!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 3,166 reviews