Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Memory and Meaning
Love and Vulnerability
Freedom
Art, Creativity, and Expression
Wonder and Knowledge
Summary
Analysis
New York City. March 13, 2014. The bookshop is busy today. Addie approaches the boy from yesterday (Henry), hands him the stolen copy of The Odyssey, and tries to exchange for something else. Henry assumes she’s joking. He advises Addie against trying to return a book to the same person from whom she stole it. “I remember you,” he says. Then he orders Addie to leave. Addie tries to leave but can’t. This is the first time in 300 years that somebody has not forgotten her. She sits on the steps just outside the shop and repeats Henry’s words to herself: “I remember you. I remember you.”
Henry might not think his words to Addie, “I remember you,” are all that special. But to Addie, who hasn’t heard or felt anyone express this sentiment to her in 300 years, Henry’s words are earth-shattering. This is a huge turning point in the novel and in Addie’s journey—it’s confirmation that Addie wasn’t losing her mind yesterday when she thought that Henry recognized her after she tried to leave with the book. He really did remember her. The question that remains now, though, is how?
Themes
Henry notices that Addie hasn’t left and demands to know what she’s doing. Addie pleads with Henry to let her treat him to coffee to apologize for stealing. Henry can sense that this is about more than the book, and eventually, he gives in.
For the first time in 300 years, Addie has the opportunity to develop a relationship with another person. But whatever is going on between Addie and Henry seems too good to be true, so the reader (and Addie) should remain wary of what the catch might be here. Addie gave up intimacy for her freedom, so it follows that she must be giving up something else to develop a relationship with Henry.
Themes
