Veronika Decides to Die
ABOUT
THE BOOK
Veronika seems to have everything she could wish for. She is young and pretty, has plenty of attractive boyfriends, goes dancing, has a steady job, a loving family. Yet Veronika is not happy; something is lacking in her life. On the morning of November 11th, 1997, she decides to die. She takes an overdose of sleeping pills, only to wake up some time later in Villette, the local hospital. There she is told that although she is alive now her heart is damaged and she has only a few days to live.
This story follows Veronika through these intense days as, to her surprise, she finds herself drawn into the enclosed world of Villette. She begins to notice more, to become interested in the other patients. She starts to see her past relationships much more clearly and understand why she felt her life had no meaning.
In this heightened state, Veronika discovers things she has never really allowed herself to feel before: hatred, fear, curiosity, love – even sexual awakening. Against all odds, she finds she is falling in love and wanting, if at all possible, to live again. Veronika’s experiences lead her gradually to realise that every second of existence is a choice that we all make between living and dying. This is a moving and uplifting song to life, one that reminds us that every moment in our lives is special and precious.
ABOUT
THE TRANSLATOR Margaret
Jull Costa
Margaret Elisabeth Jull Costa (born 2 May 1949) is a British translator of Portuguese- and Spanish-language fiction and poetry, including the works of Nobel Prize winner José Saramago, Eça de Queiroz, Fernando Pessoa, Paulo Coelho, Bernardo Atxaga, Carmen Martín Gaite, Javier Marías, and José Régio. She has won the Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize more times than any other translator.
Margaret Elisabeth Jull Costa (born 2 May 1949) is a British translator of Portuguese- and Spanish-language fiction and poetry, including the works of Nobel Prize winner José Saramago, Eça de Queiroz, Fernando Pessoa, Paulo Coelho, Bernardo Atxaga, Carmen Martín Gaite, Javier Marías, and José Régio. She has won the Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize more times than any other translator.
NOMINATING LIBRARY COMMENTS
“Veronika seems to have everything – youth, attraction, a good job and a devoted family. Yet something is missing in her life and she decides to commit suicide by taking an overdose of sleeping tablets. This fails and she wakes up in Villette, a mental hospital. A psychiatrist tells her that she has damaged her heart and has only a few days to live.
We follow Veronika through these concentrated days when she begins to come alive and become interested in the patients who share her life. She then realises why her former life had no meaning. Veronica at last feels emotion, fear, and even love. Despite or because of her incarceration she blossoms and desperately wants to live and realises how precious each moment is.
Her fellow patients are a revelation and it poses the question, when the chips are down, who is mad and who is sane in our frenetic lives.
This is an unforgettable uplifting book and when the last page is read one is left with the reminder that every moment of our lives is very precious and should be lived to the full. A thought provoking book and a hymn to life.”
(Member of Raheny Library Reading Group)