The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

Villon-sur-Sarthe, France. July 29, 1764. Addie walks to the church in the center of Villon. She finds her father’s grave almost immediately. His name, Jean LaRue, is there, but the gravestone makes no mention of his craft or what kind of person he was. Addie notices his year of death: 1714, the year she left. She tries to remember if there were any signs of illness, but she can’t. But now, her memory of her parents is already escaping her. Seeing Estele’s grave saddens her, for Estele so wanted to be buried underneath a tree, not “in the shadow of a house she did not worship.” So, Addie walks to a small shed on the border of the churchyard, finds a trowel, and uses it to dig a sapling out of the soil. Then she replants the sapling over Estele’s grave.

Next, Addie visits Estele’s abandoned hut at the edge of the woods. Estele’s garden has become tangled and overgrown since her death. Addie walks through the front door. It’s damp and dark inside—and empty. Addie assumes that Estele’s belongings were distributed among the villagers after her death, “deemed public property simply because she did not wed.” Addie goes into Estele’s garden and takes what beans and carrots she can. She carries the vegetables back into the house and cooks them over the hearth.

Then, just as Addie has expected, Luc appears behind her. Luc mocks Estele, noting how she talked of freedom—but “was so lonely in the end.” He says that Addie should have been here for Estele when Estele was ill. Luc’s words feel like a slap. Enraged, Addie runs toward Luc and hits him in the face. She thinks she has hurt him—but then he begins to laugh. And then his face transforms from a man’s to something frighteningly unhuman.

Luc claims that Addie has forgotten whom she’s dealing with—that maybe he has been too easy on her. Suddenly, pain shoots up through Addie’s body, and she feels achy and old. Her hands sprout wrinkles, and her skin becomes papery and fragile. Addie had only asked for life, not youth, but Luc has given her both—and Addie’s youth has gone to her head. Luc tells Addie that he’ll make her suffering stop—all she has to do is surrender. Addie refuses. For a moment, she thinks it’s all over. But then, the ache goes away, and her youth returns. And then Luc is gone.