Veronica

Set in the glittering, edgy world of 1980s New York, the story follows Alison, a former fashion model whose once-glamorous life has unraveled. Now middle-aged and living with the long-term effects of hepatitis C, Alison reflects on her past—especially her unlikely friendship with Veronica, an older, sharp-tongued woman living with AIDS.

As Alison revisits her rise and fall in the modeling world, Gaitskill explores themes of power, exploitation, vulnerability, and redemption. Veronica is both a raw character study and a moving meditation on memory, illness, and the meaning of connection in a disconnected world.

One of the New York Times’s 100 Best Books of the 21st Century. Shortlisted for the National Book Award. One of The Atlantic’s Great American Novels of the Past 100 Years.