The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
core novel 2020 The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue / Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil
Record
| First published | 2020 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 4.16 (1,594,171 ratings, collected 2026-08-19) |
| Page count | 448 |
| First-edition ISBN | 9780765387561 |
Synopsis
In early eighteenth-century France, Adeline LaRue is desperate to escape an arranged marriage that would trap her in her small village forever. On her wedding day she flees into the woods and prays to any god who will listen, drawing the attention of a nightfall spirit the locals call Luc. He offers her a bargain: an unbounded, unending life in exchange for her soul, to be claimed only when she finally wishes to give it up. Addie accepts, but the deal carries a cruel catch -- everyone she meets, even those who love her, forgets her completely the instant she is out of their sight. Unable to leave a lasting mark on the world, she drifts anonymously across centuries and continents, occasionally crossing paths again with Luc, who keeps returning to see whether she has tired of her freedom.
Where it sits
- Universe: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue / Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil
- Series: not part of a registered series (standalone work within its universe)
- Author: V.E. Schwab
Awards (verified)
- Locus Award (Best Fantasy Novel), 2021: nominated; 6th place, confirmed via sfadb's own Locus Award lineage page.
Notes
- A standalone novel following a woman cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets; V.E. Schwab's 2nd universe in this canon, confirmed unrelated to Shades of Magic.
Neighbouring works
Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings and are never conflated: a book's place in one says nothing about its place in the other.
- Publication order, within The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue / Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil (standalone work): position 1 of 2: next Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil (2025)
Sources
- veschwab.com (author's own site)
- Wikipedia (English)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Invisible_Life_of_Addie_LaRue
- sfadb, Science Fiction Awards Database
- Locus Magazine
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Part of the Library. Fields without an identified source are omitted, never guessed.