Book: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
Author: V.E. Schwab
Edition: Hardcover, A Tor Book
While an exceptionally long book, I loved the stunning writing and the incredibly creative storyline.
There is so much depth to the novel, including the timeless theme of human love alongside leaving our legacy, our mark on the world. While not a time-travel book per say, it could certainly make a good read for a group focused on that genre.
Online Resources
Leaving a mark, being remembered is an central theme to the novel. Eric Kim shares one very short blog on one perspective on wanting to be remembered.
Two extremes of length of life are contrasted between Henry’s year and Addie’s infinite lifeline. Ezekiel J. Emanuel writes in the Atlantic about why he wants to live to 75. This may be a good article to get you thinking about the length of life and the quality of life.
Time. Such an elusive concept at times. Why does time sometimes seem to pass too slowly and others times too quickly and how can we control our perception of time? The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organizatio, shared Feel like time is flying? Here’s how to slow it down by Steve Taylor, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Leeds Beckett University. Addie embraces the feeling of helping to slow time down, by always looking for new experiences and working to be mindfully present as Taylor discusses.
If you would like to hear and see Victoria speak, Andrew Sumner interviews her on Forbidden Planet in a 20-minute interview where Schwab talks about her writing process in creating Addie, what is time and what is memory and the pain we experience in being forgotten, other places she imagined Addie could have traveled, her relationship with Luc and yes, the author’s love of bookstores.
Characters
Addie LaRue— Born
March 10, 1691 and is cursed on July 29, 1714 to never have anyone remember who she is once she is out of sight
Luc— the darkness who appears to Addie in the form of a human male and grants Addie’s request in exchange for her soul
In New York City
Toby Marsh— Musician in New York City who Addie inspires to write an extraordinary song
James St. Clair— Wealthy, young gay man whose apartment Addie stays
in
Henry Strauss— The Last Word bookstore owner who is also cursed
Book— Henry’s cat
Bea— Friend of Henry’s and post-grad in art history
Robbie— past lover of Henry’s and an actor
David Strauss— Henry’s older brother
Muriel Strauss— Henry’s younger sister
Sam Benning— Addie’s brief artistic lover briefly and resident of another apartment where Addie
crashes
Tabitha Masters— Woman to whom Henry proposed and was turned down
Before New York City
Jean LaRue— Addie’s father who is a woodworker
Marthe LaRue— Addie’s mother
Estele Margritte— Neighbor in Villon-Sur-Sarthe, who warns Addie against praying to gods that answer after dark and to be careful what she asks for
Isabelle Therault— Young wife, mother
Remy
Laurent— Young man whom Addie meets when she dresses up as a man
Madame Geoffrin— Salnnière who invites Addie to her salon
Matteo Renatti— Artist in Venice who sketches Addie
Time Periods
1691: Addie born
Summer 1698: Addie goes to market with her father for the first time away from home
Fall 1703: Addie learns from Estelle about praying to gods
Summer 1714:
Addie’s wedding day and when she makes a deal with the darkness
1714 to 1789: Addie’s life in Paris
1789 to 1806: Addie’s life in Italy
1827: Addie briefly in London
1872: Addie and Luc attend play in Munich
1899: Addie in the Cotswolds
1914: Addie heads for New York City
1941 to 1944: Addie returns to France to be a spy for the Allies
1952 to
1984: Addie and Luc have a romantic relationship
1970 to 1984: New Orleans and finally the end of Addie and Luc’s supposed romance/game
September 2013: Henry’s heart is broken and Luc curses him to always be loved for one year
March 2014 to September 2014: Addie and Henry are a couple in New York City
September 2015: Henry’s book is published
Discussion Topics
Addie’s Relationship with Luc
Addie and Luc’s relationship is tortured and multi-dimensional. In Paris she thinks,
“Perhaps an enemy’s company is still better than none.” page 131
And later in Paris,
“But in his mocking smile, his toying words, the darkness has given her the one thing she truly needs: an enemy.” page 150
Finding the love of her life is the only thing Addie truly believes in at the time she is cursed. She believes there is a soulmate, a relationship that she is meant to find. And so Luc takes that form as he appears to her. Then for 300 years, until Addie meets Henry, they become the only constant in one another’s lives.
What dimensions did you see in their relationship? What do you see as the arc of their relationship? How do they each try to harm one another? How do they each seek something they need from the other?
As I think about some of the more challenging relationships I’ve had in my life, I can now reflect back on what I was able to learn about myself, about how I could change or speak up, about how to hear and see the depth in differing ways of being. Alongside complaining about or praising a manager or co-worker, a neighbor or family member, how could I nurture the best in a relationship and change the worst? What have been some of your most challenging relationships and how did each impact your story?
Being Remembered
“‘You cursed me to be forgotten.’
You asked for freedom. There is no greater freedom than that.’” page 142
And then as she leaves James’ empty apartment, Addie thinks,
“But it is a lonely thing, to be forgotten. To remember when no one else does.“ page 77
and the when she meets Henry he says
“‘I remember you.’
Three words, large enough to tip the world.
I remember you.” page 135
The contrast between the freedom of being forgotten and the need to be remembered is stark throughout the novel. Luc understands the need to be remembered and how wicked his curse is. Following the play in Munich in 1872, he says to Addie,
“‘Because time is cruel to all, and crueler still to artists Because vision weakens, voices wither, and talent fades…Because happiness is brief, and history is lasting, and in the end,’ he says, ‘everyone wants to be remembered.’” page 351
How do you see each of the characters in the novel working to be remembered? Is there a distinction between living in the present and thinking about the mark an individual will leave behind?
Why do you think humans feel the importance of being remembered? How do you want to be remembered? What will be your legacy? Many books explore this theme. To delve deeper into leaving a legacy you may want to read and discuss The Book of Longings.
Leaving a Mark
Abbie is cursed,
“Unable to leave a mark on anyone, or anything.” page 115
Later Luc tells her that ideas are wilder than memories and she will learn that
“she can plant them, too” page 210
And so she does. Each section of the book begins with the description of a piece of art that has been created because Addie exists— Revenir, in the Musée d’Orsay, the painting by Sam, the pencil sketch by Matteo Renatti. Addie is in Toby’s song and in Henry’s stories and the polaroids Henry takes.
When she goes to view the sculpture Revenier of five wooden birds, one of them modeled on the one her father carved for her Addie thinks,
“The first mark she left upon the world, long before she knew the truth, that ideas are so much wilder than memories, that they long and look for ways of taking root.” page 77
When she meets Remy, Addie asks,
“Do you think a life has any value if one doesn’t leave some mark upon the world?” page 179
After Matteo sketches her,
“She has not left a mark. And yet, she has. She has impressed herself upon Matteo, and he has impressed her upon the page.” page 326
And she thinks
“I have found a way to leave a mark, she wants to say to him. You thought you could erase me from this world, but you cannot. I am still here. I will always be here.” page 327
And of course, Henry writes her story in all its tumult and all of its love.
Leaving a mark is a human trait— from artistic creations, to making a difference in the world, to gravestones with names and dates— humans yearn to leave a mark that they were here, that they mattered.
When have you thought about the mark you are leaving or that you wish to leave on this world?
Henry works with Addie to leave her mark when she is unable to create her mark on her own. How have you supported others in leaving their marks? Perhaps through a literal action like an artist’s painting or Henry’s writing. As Henry thinks,
“Henry would rather be a storekeeper than a storyteller.” page 92
Rather than telling his story, he wants to share someone else’s.
Perhaps you have amplified someone’s voice or story, using your platforms, and your sources of power.
Where have you left your mark or helped someone else leave a mark?
Optimism
Addie is relentlessly optimistic as she learns how to survive without being remembered. She figures ways out of her predicaments and in most cases has to rely upon her own wits— only calling upon Luc in several moments of despair.
That’s one of the reasons I liked this novel, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. Addie’s resilience, her optimism and her ingenuity was delightful.
Are there moments in your experience where you have appreciated your own or someone else’s ingenuity? When has optimism won out in your experience over pessimism? How do you or others cultivate optimism?
Time
“Time— how often has she heard it described as sand within a glass, steady, constant. But that is a lie because she can feel it quicken, crashing toward her.” page 42
Henry has just one year and Addie has infinite time in her life. How do their yearnings and their needs compare?
Luc says to Addie,
“‘The soul is the easiest thing to trade. It’s the time no one considers.” page 383
In thinking about Luc’s statement, I think about how often I don’t think about the finiteness of time, and the other moments when life seems completely finite. There are extremes perspectives in human lives when an individual feels immortal and when an individual feels the crushing weight of limited time. Addie represents one end of this spectrum and Henry the other. How do you view time and your lifeline? When has time felt the most limited to you? When has it felt the most expansive?
At the beginning of the novel, before the curse,
“Blink, and the years fall away like leaves.” page 31
As she says goodbye to Henry, Addie says,
“‘Life can feel very long sometimes, but in the end, it goes so fast… You better live a good life, Henry Strauss.” page 429
This resonated strongly with me— the moments of discomfort and pain and loss that stretch immensely and the moments when life feels so fleeting. When have you felt each of these extremes in time?
New Places
As Addie reflects back on Luc abandoning her in Florence, she thinks,
“That even if Luc meant to abandon her, stranding her there in Florence, in doing so he broke a kind of seal. In yet another, maddening way, he fired her free.” page 324
What do you think? Where in the novel does Addie get a nudge to go somewhere new and experience another facet of life? When are these forces external and when does she generate her own personal nudges?
Do you need a nudge to get somewhere new? Do you seek out new experiences? Where do these moments stem from in your life?
Love
This novel shares dimensions of romantic love and how Luc is unable to fully understand human love and what it means. The difficulty in understanding human emotions is a theme across literature and entertainment. Voldemort underestimates the power of love in the Harry Potter series. Q is flummoxed attempting to understand the range of human emotions on Star Trek. Some of the many loving relationships in the move Love Actually.
In The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, Addie and Luc have very different perspectives on what love is.
In the end when Luc asks Addie how her human love was Addie thinks,
“It was messy. It was hard, It was wonderful, and strange, and frightening, and fragile— so fragile it hurt— and it was worth every single moment.” page 427
How do you view love? What books, TV shows, movies, poems, works of art have you seen that express the complexity of love?
A Few Additional Quotes
“You discover what you can and cannot live without. The simply necessities and small joys that define a life. Not food, not shelter, not the basic things a body needs— those are, for her, a luxury— but the things that keep you sane. That bring you joy. That make life bearable.” page 35
“the idea of the past blotted out, written over by the present, and think of this moment in Le Mans.” page 78
What quotes resonated with you?