Veronika Decides to Die by Paulo Coelho

A twenty-four year old librarian in Slovenia makes an attempt at suicide and lands in an insane asylum. There she meets people whose stories give her insight into how she has lived her own life. Coelho is a Brazilian author who has remarkable clarity about the struggle between conformity and individuation, the need to be true to yourself, and the tenuousness of our understanding about what it is to be insane. With the subtitle "A novel of redemption" Veronika's story is compelling and thought provoking. Great read and probably a good discussion book.