The Queen of the Night
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4.0 • 1 Rating
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- $17.99
Publisher Description
Recommended by The Observer . . .
'One doesn't so much read it, as one is bewitched by it. Epic, gorgeous, haunting' HANYA YANAGIHARA, author of A Little Life
When it begins, it begins as an opera should begin: in a palace, at a ball, in an encounter with a stranger, who you discover has your fate in his hands . . .
She is Lilliet Berne. And she is the soprano.
1882. One warm autumn evening in Paris, Lilliet is finally offered an original role, though it comes at a price. The part is based on her deepest secret.
Only four people could have betrayed her: one is dead, one loves her still, one wants only to own her. And one, she hopes, never thinks of her at all.
In taking this role Lilliet is forced to confront her darkest lies but will the truth save Lilliet - or destroy her?
'Brilliantly extravagant' VOGUE
'Terrific' NEW YORKER
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Chee's lush and sweeping second novel uses a strikingly different setting from Edinburgh, his accomplished debut, but shares its musical themes and boldness. In 1882 Paris, the soprano known as Lilliet Berne is a celebrated opera star with an unforgettable but vulnerable voice. When a stranger offers her the chance to originate a new opera's leading role, she discovers that the work retells her scandalous hidden history. As she attempts to discover which of four individuals from her past revealed her secrets, she recalls the circus troupe in which she first performed, her days as a servant to France's Empress Eug nie, and her time as a prostitute. Chee memorably depicts the shifting fortunes of France and historical figures including Napoleon III whose wife, Eug nie, and her rival, the Countess di Castiglione, play pivotal roles in Lilliet's story and George Sand. But opera as much as history shapes the novel, with nods to The Magic Flute among other works. Though the momentum flags in the book's lengthy central sections, Chee's voice, at once dreamy and dramatic, never falters; Lilliet's cycle of reinventions is a moving meditation on the transformative power of fate, art, time, and sheer survival.
