The Faustian bargain at the heart of the novel is intriguing: our protagonist Addie is allowed to live forever, but she is not allowed to make a “mark” on the world during her life. This means that everyone she meets will forget her as soon as she leaves the room. The curse is the embodiment of “out of sight, out of mind.”
Beyond the social aspects, she cannot draw, paint or write, for those can leave marks. Photographs of her develop to be stubbornly out of focus. Even her transient footprints get wiped away remarkably quickly. She is, in society’s eye, invisible.
While intriguing to discuss the consequences (such as how does one travel internationally in this day and age without a passport if one can be forgotten instantly with no records… or the fact that I think the author could’ve spent much more time in the “meat” of the time period rather than mostly near the beginning and end), the central driving force behind Addie is her desperation to be remembered. In time, she found that she can influence artists to create art inspired by her, supposedly remarkable, face and figure. I really liked this loophole for some odd reason.
Without spoiling the story too much, she meets a… remarkably… dull man who can remember her. Character traits notwithstanding, I did very much enjoy the writing in the last few chapters of this man. Speaking too much here would spoil the ending.
Overall, solid book. Decently interesting plot points. Fun read.