Your life can be changed in an instant. This is what happened to Nora and her brother Mario when they were orphaned as children. Sometimes your life is changed when circumstances become too much to bear. This is what happened to Lewis. And sometimes, your life can change because of the positive influence of others. It only took one person to change Marlene’s outlook. In this very dramatic and often sad and tragic tale, five people take refuge in a library during the night of a massive snow storm. It is an eclectic gathering of people. Nora’s brother is a drug addict and homeless, and she often wonders where he is and even if he is still among the living. This deeply affects her, and has led her to help other homeless people however she can. She is also the librarian who has offered the library as refuge during the storm. Marlene is an elderly outspoken woman who recently lost her husband, and she really doesn’t want to go on living without him. Jasmine is new in town, having lost her mother to cancer, and she is now living with her grandmother along with her father and sister. Vlado, the library’s security guard, helps Nora however he can. Lewis is a homeless person, a drug addict who overdoses on the library lawn, but who is saved by the quick action of Nora and Vlado. These five people gradually divulge personal secrets as they cope with the effects of the storm. They all have suffered loss, and they all have found different methods of coping with life. During this long and scary night, their lives are changed and they see things in a different light. It’s quite a thought-provoking tale. The characters are well drawn, the plot is intriguing, and the outcome is hopeful. It’s a well written account of the social issues of homelessness and drug addiction. And it also illustrates that sometimes people who want to help are sacrificing their own lives for naught. ( )

Nora is the glue at the heart of this story. She's a librarian with a big heart, alone in the world except for a drug addict brother she has lost touch with but worries about. She, along with four others, are stranded in the library during a big storm. Lewis is homeless and is saved by the efforts of Nora and the security guard, Vlado. Two patrons, Marlene (older and bitter) and Jasmine (young teen). Over the course of the night they cope with cold, hunger, and gradually open up about who they are and what they hope for. I really liked the exploration of what it is like for family who worries about their homeless addicts and on the other hand, what it is like for those who are homeless and addicted. There aren't easy answers here, but it was a compassionate look nevertheless. ( )

I appreciated that this book tackled addiction from several different viewpoints and also reiterated the point that you never know what battles someone else is facing. I found the characters like able and the story flowed well. ( )

Night of Many Endings. Melissa Payne. 2021. I read about half of this book and put it down. I just couldn’t get interested in it. Nora is a librarian in her small Colorado home town. She is guilt-ridden because she has not been able to save her drug-addicted brother and compensates by being overly helpful to the many homeless who flock to the library and to other troubled patrons. She and her assistant drag a homeless man into the library in the middle of a snow storm, they get snowbound along with a bitter old woman and a woebegone teen girl. As they huddle together to keep warm, each begins to tell their stories. Predictable. Hallmark movie material. ( )

About a 3.5. This is a book about people that got trapped in a library during a snowstorm. It tells of their lives and thoughts while they’re stranded in the library. Gives you a better understanding of peoples feelings. ( )