Over the next thirty years, she composed her novel and communicated it to doctors through a tedious battery of yes or no questions using increasingly sophisticated brain scanning techniques. It was well received by critics and the public alike, despite some opposition to the use of Valerie’s terrible condition as a marketing tool.

Within months of publication, medical advances made it possible for Valerie’s brain damage to be repaired and she was successfully returned to full consciousness. After a whirlwind year in the limelight, she returned to Miami and vanished from the public eye even as her novel entered the literary canon, where it remains firmly entrenched to this day.

She is survived by her husband, two children, five grandchildren and four cats.