Dying for Veronica

Susan Patrick is a librarian at Ryerson Polytechnical University.

This intense and original first novel, written in an experimental style,
concerns the obsessive incestuous love of a brother for his sister,
which begins when the two are children and continues as the boy becomes
a cathedral organist and his sister a nun.

Dying for Veronica is infused with Catholic ritual and imagery,
religious history, and philosophy, interwoven with the mysteries of
childhood and different forms of sexual obsession. The prose ranges from
straightforward narrative to stream of consciousness. The author’s use
of different fonts—in addition to split pages and graphics—to
distinguish between conventional narration, dreams, historical
references and footnotes, and spontaneous thought complicates the
reading process. The frequent graphic and vernacular descriptions of
bodily functions and the palpable disdain for the Catholic church are
strong indications that this book is not for the squeamish or the
devout.