Annabel

Lauren Oliver’s Annabel is the prequel novella for the Delirium trilogy, telling the story of Lena’s mother years before the main books begin. Annabel was one of the people who refused the procedure successfully enough that the cure didn’t take, and the novella covers her early life, her marriage, and the events that led to her institutionalization.

The novella is darker than the main trilogy. Annabel’s love for her daughters and for the man she married is set against the cost of refusing what the society around her demanded.

For readers who finished the trilogy and want to understand the woman whose absence drives so much of Lena’s story, this is essential. The reading order is flexible. Some readers prefer to read Annabel before Delirium for the additional weight. Others save it for after the trilogy. Either approach works.