The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue: Part 1, Chapter 10 Summary & Analysis

Villon-sur-Sarthe, France. July 29, 1714. When Adeline wakes, she’s still in the forest, and the stranger is gone. Adeline studies herself for signs of change but finds none. How is she supposed to know that the spell has worked? Regardless, she’s made up her mind: she’s not going to marry Roger. She’ll leave Villon if that’s what it takes. She gets up and heads back toward the village.

 “Maman!” Adeline calls, greeting her mother as she steps inside the kitchen. Adeline starts to apologize for running away, but Adeline’s mother angrily asks who Adeline is and demands that she leave. Adeline tries to explain that she’s Adeline but finds that her name catches in her throat before she can speak it. Her father enters the room, and he tells Adeline he doesn’t have a daughter. Adeline pleads with her parents, but it’s no use: they think she’s either “mad” or “cursed.”

Adeline goes to Estele’s cottage next. Estele comes to the door, but she doesn’t recognize Adeline, either. She asks if Adeline is “a stranger or a spirit[.]” Adeline tries to explain herself, listing details that only someone who knows Estele would know, but Estele only thinks that Adeline is “a clever spirit.” She, too, orders her to leave. Adeline pleads with Estele to tell her how to fix things if she prays to the wrong gods. Estele explains that the darkness “makes its own rules,” and that Adeline “ha[s] lost.” Then she shuts the door in Adeline’s face.

Adeline beats against the closed door. Estele opens it again—and, once more, asks Adeline, “Are you a spirit? Or a stranger?” Adeline pleads with Estele to help her. Estele says to wait there: she’ll be right back. Estele goes inside, shutting the door behind her. But when Estele returns, she doesn’t recognize Adeline. Adeline realizes that it was a mistake to accept the darkness’s help, but now it’s too late.