“A coming-of-age novel in the grand Romantic tradition, where passions run high, Cupid stalks Psyche, and love shares the dance floor with death. “A complex, sophisticated, elegant investigation of trauma and desire - like a white hot flame.”-Joyce Hackett, in The Guardian Edinburgh is moody, dramatic - and pure.'-Edmund White 'Alexander Chee is the best new novelist I've seen in some time. In order to survive, she transformed herself from hippodrome rider to courtesan, from empress’s maid to debut singer, all the while weaving a complicated web of romance, obligation, and political intrigue.įeaturing a cast of characters drawn from history, The Queen of the Night follows Lilliet as she moves ever closer to the truth behind the mysterious opera and the role that could secure her reputation - or destroy her with the secrets it reveals. As she mines her memories for clues, she recalls her life as an orphan who left the American frontier for Europe and was swept up into the glitzy, gritty world of Second Empire Paris. And one, she hopes, never thinks of her at all. Only four could have betrayed her: one is dead, one loves her, one wants to own her. When one is finally offered to her, she realizes with alarm that the libretto is based on a hidden piece of her past.

Lilliet Berne is a sensation of the Paris Opera, a legendary soprano with every accolade except an original role, every singer’s chance at immortality.

Queen of the night chee