When Estele dies, Addie is dismayed that she is buried in a Christian cemetery rather than in the forest where the affectionately described “witch of the woods” belongs. In an effort to correct this, Addie transplants a sapling to a spot nearby her grave, and decades later it grows into a strong, sturdy tree. In addition to representing a fulfillment of Estele’s burial wishes, the tree is at that point one of the most rewarding “marks” Addie has managed to leave on the world. Moreover, the tree is a monument to a preindustrial Villon, for which Addie feels nostalgia despite how restricted she felt growing up there.

Given the profound and multifaceted symbolic importance this tree holds for her, Addie is devastated when she returns to Villon to discover someone chopped the tree down. In one fell swoop, Addie’s commemoration of Estele, Villon, and her own ability to contribute something to the world are cut to the ground. Even Luc is touched by the cruelty of it all, telling Addie two words he never spoke before and will never speak again: “I’m sorry.” Perhaps the only comfort would be if the tree, not unlike Addie herself, was used to make the pages of a classic work of literature—forgotten and invisible yet crucially important to the spread of art and ideas.