Deborah Copaken Kogan, Between Here and April (2009)

Between Here and April, a novel by Deborah Copaken Kogan, is an allegory of the Inferno. The middle-aged female protagonist “falls” into darkness at the beginning, but, being female, she has no Virgil to guide her. Dr. Karen (Charon) Rivers (Styx) is there to guide her to the underworld (her subconscious.) Each character she meets while researching the death of her friend at the hand of her mother represents a new circle of hell. (Mavis/lust & gluttony; Trudy/hoarders & wasters; etc.)