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Jean LaRue (Addie’s Father)
Addie’s mother loves but fails to understand Addie. She only calls Addie by her full name, Adeline, believing “Addie” to be unladylike. She adheres to the social norms that govern life in Villon, and so she disapproves of Addie’s father teaching Addie to read and write—skills Addie’s mother believes are a waste of time for women to learn. Instead, she believes that it’s a woman’s duty to assume the domestic responsibilities of running a household and carrying for one’s husband and children. Addie’s mother dislikes that Addie is a “dreamer,” a trait she believes will only bring Addie trouble. She’s overjoyed when Roger, a widower in their village, selects Addie to be his wife. When Addie first returns to Villon after making her deal with Luc, her mother’s failure to recognize her is the first indication that something is very wrong. When Addie returns to Villon after spending many years away, she visits her house and glimpses her now-elderly mother through a crack in the front door. Though Addie has had decades to get used to people not remembering her, her mother’s failure to recognize her hurts as much as it did all those years before.
Marthe LaRue (Addie’s Mother) Quotes in The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
The The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue quotes below are all either spoken by Marthe LaRue (Addie’s Mother) or refer to Marthe LaRue (Addie’s Mother). For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Part 1, Chapter 4
Quotes
Her mother wishes she was more like Isabelle Therault, sweet and kind and utterly incurious, content to keep her eyes down upon her knitting instead of looking up at clouds, instead of wondering what’s around the bend, over the hills.
But Adeline does not know how to be like Isabelle.
She does not want to be like Isabelle.
She wants only to go to Le Mans, and once there, to watch the people and see the art all around, and taste the food, and discover things she hasn’t heard of yet.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Estele’s face darkens. “The old gods may be great, but they are neither kind nor merciful. They are fickle, unsteady as moonlight on water, or shadows in a storm. If you insist on calling them, take heed: be careful what you ask for, be willing to pay the price.” She leans over Adeline, casting her in shadow. “And no matter how desperate or dire, never pray to the gods that answer after dark.”
Part 1, Chapter 5
Quotes
There was no danger in it, no reproach, not when she was young. All girls are prone to dreaming. She will grow out of it, her parents say—but instead, Adeline feels herself growing in, holding tighter to the stubborn hope of something more.
The world should be getting larger. Instead, she feels it shrinking, tightening like chains around her limbs as the flat lines of her own body begin to curve out against it, and suddenly the charcoal beneath her nails is unbecoming, as is the idea that she would choose her own company over Arnaud’s or George’s, or any man who might have her.
Get the entire The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue LitChart as a printable PDF.
Marthe LaRue (Addie’s Mother) Quotes in The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
The The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue quotes below are all either spoken by Marthe LaRue (Addie’s Mother) or refer to Marthe LaRue (Addie’s Mother). For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Part 1, Chapter 4
Quotes
Her mother wishes she was more like Isabelle Therault, sweet and kind and utterly incurious, content to keep her eyes down upon her knitting instead of looking up at clouds, instead of wondering what’s around the bend, over the hills.
But Adeline does not know how to be like Isabelle.
She does not want to be like Isabelle.
She wants only to go to Le Mans, and once there, to watch the people and see the art all around, and taste the food, and discover things she hasn’t heard of yet.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Estele’s face darkens. “The old gods may be great, but they are neither kind nor merciful. They are fickle, unsteady as moonlight on water, or shadows in a storm. If you insist on calling them, take heed: be careful what you ask for, be willing to pay the price.” She leans over Adeline, casting her in shadow. “And no matter how desperate or dire, never pray to the gods that answer after dark.”
Part 1, Chapter 5
Quotes
There was no danger in it, no reproach, not when she was young. All girls are prone to dreaming. She will grow out of it, her parents say—but instead, Adeline feels herself growing in, holding tighter to the stubborn hope of something more.
The world should be getting larger. Instead, she feels it shrinking, tightening like chains around her limbs as the flat lines of her own body begin to curve out against it, and suddenly the charcoal beneath her nails is unbecoming, as is the idea that she would choose her own company over Arnaud’s or George’s, or any man who might have her.
