"The Invisible Life Of Addie Larue" I Won't Forget

 

V.E. Schward’s novel “The Immortal Life of Addie Lurie” is something of a historical novel with a modern twist. It’s a novel about the theme of time itself, and an unexpected novel. Twenty something Addie Lurie, in 1714, makes a deal with a God named Luc to escape a marriage she doesn’t want. However, there’s a catch to this deal . Not only will she never age and live forever, but she also will be forgotten by everyone she ever met or meets going forward. They’ll remember her maybe for one day, and then forget she ever existed the next day. It’s a struggle to say the least. Her life becomes literally invisible. Even her parents deny her existence when she runs back to them, saying they never had kids. The novel jumps between many different time periods, from the 1700s to the 2000s. Though, this doesn’t stop Addie from living. She goes to different cities and countries and even has romances, though short lived ones that won’t be remembered the next day. She also inspires various pieces of artwork and literature, though while those pieces are left behind, her memory isn’t.

This is a well written book. Schward’s writing is lush yet precise, and the chapters are short. You get glimpses of various parts of Addie’s life, and while I sometimes wondered what this book would be like in the first person, instead of the third person, the twist at the end of this book makes this point of view this novel make sense. I really liked the twist at the end of the book. This book also works as something of a romance, because everything changes when Addie meets a guy named Henry. After she steals a book from a store in Brooklyn, she comes back the next day to return it. She wants to make a book exchange with Henry, but Henry tells her she’s banned from the store because he remembers her. The book then becomes something of a mystery as to why Addie is remembered by Henry, and something of a romance story too. Yet, it’s an unusual romance story, and it ties the two together through the character of the God, Luc.

Luc reminded me a bit of an Anne Rice character, as he is immortal, cruel and obsessive. He is also suave, sophisticated and attractive. Every couple years, he shows up to visit Addie, and while he did grant her immortal life, she refuses to give him the one thing he wanted in exchange, which was her soul.

Addie is a strong character and refuses to be what women where in the 1700s. She doesn’t want to be a simple wife, and feel she belongs to someone. She wants to be free, but by being free, she gives up being remembered by anyone. The idea of not being remembered by anyone is an interesting one. As Henry and her begin a romance, Henry’s family and friends must be constantly reintroduced to her.

However, Henry is an interesting character too. He was turned down by the women he wanted to marry, and he is a neurotic bookworm of a character. The book dives into his life a bit, outside of Addie, and early on I was wondering why we were spending time away from the main character. However, it ties his life to her very well as you go on reading the book. Like Addie, he is constantly trying to understand her place in the world, and even if he can do something special. Addie doesn’t have that luxury, besides being a muse for various artists and writers who will forget they ever met her beyond their work.

This book is a solid piece of magical realism, and an excellent and emotional journey that makes you think about time passing, and the people you meet along the way. Also, the ending is excellent and one of the best endings I have read in a long time. “The Invisible Life of Addie Lurie” is one of the best novels I read this year, and I know I won’t forget it any time soon.  

A Tribute to Peter David

 

Peter David, who passed away this week, famously called himself “writer of stuff”. He was a legendary comic book writer, known for his famous 12-year run writing the “Incredible Hulk” comic book series. He also famously created Linda Danvers, his take on “Supergirl” and “Spider-Man 2099”, which is an alternative universe “Spider-Man” in the future. “Spider-Man 2099” would have a re-introduction to a new generation of fans in the “SpiderVerse” series of movies. David also wrote many novels and screenplays including “Knightlife” where King Arthur and Merlin the Magician time travel to New York City and King Arthur decide to run for mayor. He wrote dozens of other novels and screenplays, a famous column for the Comic Buyers Guide, co-created the 90s Nickelodeon show “Space Cases” with Billy Mumy and was one of the first bloggers.

David was an author many would have nostalgia for. I have a “Star Trek” novel signed by him when I met him at ICON, a comic book convention in New York. In the book, he signed it to me and drew the “Star Trek” logo over his signature. I remember handing him the book I got for free because it was discarded from the local library, and him going “great” when he saw the discarded copy. However, he signed everyone’s stuff for free, a rarity at comic cons.

He was great at giving new edges to existing comic book characters, like “The Incredible Hulk” or “Supergirl”. One of his “Incredible Hulk” issues had one of the most famous covers of any Marvel Comic, with Wolverine yelling and a reflection of the Hulk seen through his metal blade claws. One of my favorite things David wrote was his “Supergirl” series which gave Supergirl an edge in Linda Danvers, a new version of the character. A fusion of two people, a troubled teenager and the original Supergirl, she starts to fight crime going back and forth between the two forms. There was something great about reading this more angsty Supergirl, instead of the more clean-cut versions we have gotten in the past of her.  David, often at comic book conventions, would tell the audience that he felt his version of “Supergirl” was way too short lived, and if it had continued, he would have loved to see her team up with other female superheroes, in a “Birds of Prey” kind of crime fighting team.

“Spider-Man 2099” was similar in some ways to his new version of “Supergirl”, in the fact it was a new version of an existing comic book character. Taking place in 2099, this futuristic version of Spider-Man was an Irish Mexican geneticist living in Neuva York (a futuristic New York City), who re-writes his DNA code to become the new Spider Man. Reading these comics are cool, with the flying cars, and different types of beings, including aliens and hologram people. Reading “Spider-Man 2099” felt like a more adult version of “The Jetsons”, which was cool, with flying cars and buildings in the sky. Seeing a Spiderman in this futuristic type of environment was a blast to read. “Spiderman 2099” #1 was also the highest selling comic book issue David ever wrote.

David had a great sense of humor in his novels “Knight Life” and its squeals, poking fun at New York politics and New York City while keeping the supernatural theme going with his fun time travel plot. David would travel more into the world of books outside of comics, by infusing comics and books into one. He wrote the graphic novel adaption of Stephen King’s “Dark Tower” series, and the novelizations of the “Spide-Man” and “Batman” movies.

A whole generation of comic book readers and anyone who picked up a paperback “Star Trek” novel owe a great debt to Peter David.  He was one of the best comic book writers around.