title: Veronika Decides to Die: A Novel of Redemption
author:  Paulo Coelho 
description: "Girl Interrupted meets The Catcher in the Rye...you'll appreciate Veronika's sensual nihilism."--Mademoiselle
zlib_text: 
  
  
  # Veronika Decides to Die
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Veronika Decides to Die Coelho, Paulo
  
  
  Behold I give unto you power to tread on serpents…and nothing shall by any
  means hurt you. Luke 10:19 For S.T. de L, who began to help me without my
  realising it.
  
  
  On 11 November 1997, Veronika decided that the moment to kill herself had—at
  last!—arrived. She carefully cleaned the room that she rented in a convent,
  turned off the heating, brushed her teeth and lay down.
  
  
  She picked up the four packs of sleeping pills from her bedside table. Instead
  of crushing them and mixing them with water, she decided to take them one by
  one, because there is always a gap between intention and action, and she
  wanted to feel free to turn back half way. However, with each pill she
  swallowed, she felt more convinced: after five minutes the packs were empty.
  
  
  Since she didn’t know exactly how long it would take her to lose
  consciousness, she had placed on the bed that month’s issue of a French
  magazine,Homme , which had just