Solitaire by Kelley Eskridge
Solitaire tells the story of Ren “Jackal” Segura and of the highly structured, near-future society that shapes and controls her destiny. A series of incidents leads to her arrest, conviction, and forced participation in an experimental form of punishment known as virtual confinement (VC). In VC, the comatose subject is imprisoned in a colorless, constricted virtual environment in which time itself stretches and slows. In less than one real-time year, Jackal endures the virtual equivalent of several years of unbroken solitude. Jackal’s experiences in VC — her near capitulation to madness and despair, her creation of a doorway to a brighter, more expansive world, and her subsequent, painful reemergence form the heart of this beautifully detailed, sometimes harrowing account of courage, cruelty, and survival.
This is one of my favorite books. I have read it at least ten times and keep coming back to re-read it over again. It is one of my comfort books that pull me out of depression or whatever pit I have gotten my head into at the time. This is my dessert island book, the one I want to be able to read for the rest of my life in times of need.
As a bonus, my blog was featured on Kelley Eskridge’s blog for an earlier post.
http://kelleyeskridge.com/news-and-reviews/
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/214618.Solitaire