| The main character of the book is Veronika she is a young girl with youth, boyfriends, loving family, a good job but still she finds life empty so she decides to take her own life but her failed attempt leads her to Villette a local mental hospital in Ljubljana the capital of Slovenia. Here she meets different inmates of the hospital who have a great impact on her life, like Zedka who is depressed in spite of having a loving family. She is in search of a past lover but she has no clue where to find him and where to begin her search. Then there is Mari a really successful lawyer who wished to do something different but she starts having panic attacks. Eduard with whom Veronika falls in love. He wishes to live his life on his own terms.
The story begins on 11th November 1997, the day Veronika decides that now the day has arrived for her to kill herself so she cleans the room she rented in the convent, brushed her teeth and lay down on the bed. She has all the things in life. She lives in the capital city of Slovenia yet she is not happy so one winter morning she takes an overdose of powerful sleeping pills. Unfortunately for her she doesn't die instead a week later she wakes up in Villette the feared and much lunatic mental asylum. There she is told that though she is alive but her heart is badly damaged and she only has a few days to live. In these intense days she begins to question her existence and ideas about life. Soon she begins to realize that every second of life is worth living and against all odds she begins to find herself falling in love with life and wanting to live again. Paulo Coelho is trying to teach the reader several things alongside observing his own promise to reveal his personal experiences of a doctor patient relationship into a mental hospital. The main focus of the story is on Veronika and her relationships with the other inmates of villette. | ||
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Plot & Themes Tone of book? - depressed Time/era of story - 1980's-1999 Life of a profession: Internal struggle/realization? Yes Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book Job/Profession/Status story Yes Brain/Body disability? - mental illness Main Character Gender - Female Age: - 20's-30's Main Adversary - 20's-30's Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor Setting How much descriptions of surroundings? - 2 () Europe Yes European country: - Spain The Americas (not US): Yes The Americas: - South Small town? Yes Small town people: - nice, like Andy/Opie/Aunt Bee Writing Style Sex in book? Yes What kind of sex: - descript of kissing - actual description of hetero sex Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog |
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