Veronika Decides to Die
A Novel of Redemption (P.S.)
Margaret Jull Costa, Paulo Coelho
Readers rate it 3.4 (292 on Hardcover)
240 pages · Released May 23, 2006 · Harper Perennial
Content report card
Veronika Decides to Die parent’s guide: what’s inside
LGBTQ+ themes
What it offers
Educational value
A note for parents
This is a literary novel centered on suicide attempt and mental illness recovery, making it unsuitable for younger readers. While the message celebrates life and individuality, the book's direct engagement with suicidal ideation, psychiatric hospitalization, and existential despair requires emotional maturity. It is most appropriate for older teens and adults who can process these heavy themes with nuance.
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From the publisher
Twenty-four-year-old Veronika seems to have everything -- youth and beauty, boyfriends and a loving family, a fulfilling job. But something is missing in her life. So, one cold November morning, she takes a handful of sleeping pills expecting never to wake up. But she does -- at a mental hospital where she is told that... Twenty-four-year-old Veronika seems to have everything -- youth and beauty, boyfriends and a loving family, a fulfilling job. But something is missing in her life. So, one cold November morning, she takes a handful of sleeping pills expecting never to wake up. But she does -- at a mental hospital where she is told that she has only days to live.Inspired by events in Coelho's own life, Veronika Decides to Die questions the meaning of madness and celebrates individuals who do not fit into patterns society considers to be normal. Bold and illuminating, it is a dazzling portrait of a young woman at the crossroads of despair and liberation, and a poetic, exuberant appreciation of each day as a renewed opportunity.
Shelved under
- Suicide
- Translations into Russian
- Quality of life
- Literature
- Suicidal behavior
- Portuguese fiction
- Mental illness
- Fiction
- Self-realization
- Young women
- Psychological fiction
- Self-actualization (Psychology)
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ISBN 9780061124266 · Harper Perennial