I went through a phase where I was fascinated by that deal-with-the-devil. 😈
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is one of the saddest, most beautiful works of art I have ever read.
This classic deal-with-the-devil tale begins in the 18th century French countryside. Addie is spared from an arranged marriage to a widow farmer and his two children. In exchange, she is cursed to an immortal life in which no one is ever able to remember her. Every day you wake and the person beside you has no idea who you are. You rent a room for a week, but the next day you get kicked out because no one has any recollection of you paying to begin with. You can’t keep a job. Your life becomes very complicated. You become a living ghost.
“And this is what she’s settled on: she can go without food (she will not wither). She can go without heat (the cold will not kill her). But a life without art, without wonder, without beautiful things—she would go mad. She has gone mad.
What she needs are stories.
Stories are a way to preserve one’s self. To be remembered. And to forget.
Stories come in so many forms: in charcoal, and in song, in paintings, poems, films. And books.
Books, she has found, are a way to live a thousand lives—or to find strength in a very long one.”
Addie has lived 300 years this way. There is no emotion she hasn’t felt, no extreme to which she has not been pushed. This hardship has made her smarter and sharper, resilient. But it’s also made her soft. It’s made her a dreamer and an artist. With the years she grows stronger against Luc’s requests for surrender (Luc = the night god/devil she made her Faustian bargain with).
The themes around identity and legacy in this novel really spoke to me as I contemplate my own place in the world. Addie has literally gone mad and returned, and she still finds beauty in this life. She has been raped, robbed, and homeless. Yet she can still fall in love, and she still lives in creation. Her resilience and her heart give me hope for myself. No matter how bad things may seem, if I keep waking up every day and choosing me, then I can still have a beautiful and full life. I can still leave a mark on this world even if no one knows who I am.
Addie has found loopholes in her curse to leave her mark. She seduces a musician, leaving him bits and pieces of a melody every night until he has a hit song that launches his rock career. Muse to countless artists, Addie can walk the Louvre and see herself in multiple works of acrylic, sketches, and sculpture. Her constellation freckles are the signature no artist misses. Addie dictates her life story to Henry, and he turns it into a best-selling novel. The intricacies and details that tie this novel together are true perfection. V. E. Schwab is an artist, and I wish I could have written this book myself.
Addie has lived a long life alone. She has moments of companionship and love, but they never last more than 24 hours. But what if someone who is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets finds someone whose own deal with the devil cancels it out?
Enter Henry. Henry asked Luc to be loved, but instead he is cursed to be exactly what every person is looking for. No one can ever see the real Henry, just what they want. Addie is looking for someone to remember her, so therefore Henry can’t forget Addie. You follow the math? And we get to be present for the most significant relationship in both of their lives. It’s so beautiful and bittersweet because Henry’s terms are different. He only gets this gift of being loved by everyone he meets for exactly 12 months. Yeah. What do we do with that? Addie has waited 300 years for something like this to happen, and when she finally learns the truth Henry only has 1 month left to live. I’ll leave you to discover how this unfolds on your own.
Rating: 5 Teeth
Central incisor. 🫳🏻🎤
I love this book.