Our protagonist in the novel, Adelene, is born in the countryside of 18th century France and is kind of a rebel for her times. We find her experiencing cold feet at her wedding ceremony and later she runs away only to meet the devil himself. Now, the author gives us the age old Dorian Grey kind of scenario in which our dame Addie exchanges her soul for eternal life. This part does not get old. So by 2014 she is already 300 years old girl but there is flip side to it. I mean we are talking about the devil himself. The devil does not play fair. Right! So he gives her immortality but makes sure that nobody remembers her the moment they take their eyes of her. Its Dorian Grey and Memento mixed together but in this case its the other person who loses memory of ever having met the protagonist even though they have just talked to our poor protagonist. I think this is the most novel aspect of the story.
Anyway, our poor ephemeral hero lives through centuries, witnessing momentous historic events, without any friend or relative or anybody who can even say her name. She can not write her name or even bring herself to utter it. So, naturally we sympathize with her. Immortality kind of sucks right?! Fast forward to modern day New York. The real turn of events, rather an anomaly occurs here. I will not reveal it here because I think it would be unjust to the book to give a spoiler just like that.
All in all, the book is a quick read and feels more like reading a script for movie or tv series. It plays out like that. Many may prefer that though. There were many occasions when I felt it lacked the substance in characterization and exploration of inner feelings of a person who has lived through centuries. But its supposed to be a light read so I would not blame the author for that.
Rating: 2.5/5
musings & reviews 