The Love Letters of Abelard and Lily by Laura Creedle

Obviously, I don’t have the hyperactive component, but her forgetfulness, disorganization, and wandering brain all hit home. It was maddening and as someone who has recently been officially diagnosed with ADD, it was unfortunately relatable. I realized that everything that drove me crazy about Lily are the things she can’t control because of her ADHD. Lily is a complete disaster and an unreliable narrator, which made me just want to shake her. But for Abelard, the jagged crack was the interesting thing about me. It didn’t seem like it would be even possible to love me. I’d spent my entire life as a teacup with a jagged crack running down the side, an imperfect vessel threatening to spill my contents onto the table at any random moment. Both grapple with what it means to be together, what it means to be themselves, and what is the best path forward.

Things get even more complicated as Abelard is accepted to a school for gifted students and Lily considers a procedure that could help tame the symptoms of her ADHD. The story follows the couple as they try to navigate their respective neuroses, high school, and complicated home lives. He wanted to fix things, not destroy them.

But unlike me, he was thinking about the hidden gears in the box, years of neglect and humidity, gears rusting away unused. I thought of Abelard, under the same anxious impulse to touch everything in the world of the here and now that we could feel with our hands. After an awkward kiss, a trip to detention and with the aid of a worn copy The Letters of Abelard and Heloise the two fall hard for each other. Abelard fixes things and Lily destroys them. Abelard has Asperger’s and Lily has ADHD. Abelard and Lily are both neurodivergent.

The Love Letters of Abelard and Lily by Laura Creedle