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
Not since Patrick Suskind's Perfumehas a work of fiction so vividly evoked a time, a place, and a passion . . .
About the Author
Alexander Chee won a Whiting Award for his first novel, Edinburgh, and is a recipient of the NEA Fellowship in Fiction and residencies from the MacDowell Colony, Ledig House and Civitella Ranieri. His writing has appeared in The New York Times Book Review, Tin House, Slate, and NPR, among others, and he is a contributing editor at the New Republic. He has recently been selected as a prestigious LA Times critic-at-large. He lives in New York City.
Reviews
One doesn't so much read The Queen of the Night as one is bewitched by it -- Hanya Yanagihara, author of the Man Booker shortlisted 'A Little Life'
A wild opera of a novel and the perfect summer read: swift, smart, immersive and gorgeous * Guardian *
A celebration . . . of creativity, ingenuity, endurance, mastery and grace * New York Times *
A more impressive, richly imagined novel I have not read in many years. From its heroine's first entrance, The Queen of the Night grabbed me and kept me rapt as it writhed and contorted its way through love and murder, courtesans and empresses, fates and curses * Financial Times *
A masterfully written book. Chee, just, is masterful. I loved this novel -- Roxane Gay
An epic novel, brilliantly extravagant * Vogue *
Lush and sweeping . . . A moving meditation on the transformative power of fate, art, time, and sheer survival * Publishers Weekly *
Sprawling, soaring, bawdy and plotted like a fine embroidery * National Public Radio *
It just sounds terrific. It sounds like opera * New Yorker *
A night at an opera you'll wish never-ending -- Helen Oyeyemi, author of 'Boy, Snow, Bird' and 'Mr. Fox'
An astonishing universe into which its lucky readers can dissolve completely * Karen Russell, New York Times best-selling author of 'Swamplandia' and 'Vampires in the Lemon Grove' *
Utterly engrossing. You won't want to miss this * Bookish *
A spellbinding story of intrigue and self-reinvention * Buzzfeed *
Readers [will be] absorbed until the final aria, waiting to see whom fate will curse and whom it will avenge * Time *
Richly researched and ornately plotted * Kirkus, STARRED review *
Book Information
ISBN 9780718185091
Author Alexander Chee
Format Paperback
Page Count 576
Imprint Penguin Books Ltd
Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
Weight(grams) 395g
Dimensions(mm) 199mm * 130mm * 36mm
