The Queen of the Night: Alexander Chee - Softcover

Chee, Alexander

 
9780718185091: The Queen of the Night: Alexander Chee
Softcover
ISBN 10: 0718185099 ISBN 13: 9780718185091
Publisher: Penguin, 2018

Synopsis

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

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

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.

From the Back Cover

Praise for The Queen of the Night "A night at an opera you'll wish never-ending." - Helen Oyeyemi, author of Boy, Snow, Bird and Mr. Fox " The Queen of the Night is an astonishing universe into which its lucky readers can dissolve completely, metamorphosing alongside its shapeshifting protagonist. Lilliet Berne steals her name from a gravestone and launches into a life of full-throated song; her voice is an intoxicant, and this book is a glorious performance. Chee's enveloping, seductive prose is perfectly matched to the circus world of the opera." - Karen Russell, New York Times best-selling author of Swamplandia and Vampires in the Lemon Grove "A luminous tale of power and passion. Chee gives us an unforgettable heroine and a rich cast of characters-many of them real historical figures. The story dazzles and surprises right up until the final page." - J. Courtney Sullivan, New York Times best-selling author of Maine and The Engagements "One doesn't so much read Alexander Chee's The Queen of the Night as one is bewitched by it. Beneath its epic sweep, gorgeous language, and haunting details is the most elemental, and eternal, of narratives: that of the necessities and perils of self-reinvention, and the sorrow and giddiness of aspiring to a life of artistic transcendence." - Hanya Yanagihara, author of A Little Life and The People in the Trees "Alexander Chee packs his extraordinary second novel, The Queen of the Night, to the seams with music, love, misery, and secrets. The kind of book-world-characters-you could live inside, happily, for days and days and never once want to come up for air." - Kelly Link, author of Get in Trouble and Magic for Beginners "Chee's lush and sweeping second novel uses a strikingly different setting from Edinburgh, his accomplished debut, but shares its musical themes and boldness...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."- Publishers Weekly "Life as opera: the intrigues and passions of a star soprano in 19th-century Paris...Richly researched, ornately plotted, this story demands, and repays, close attention." - Kirkus, STARRED "We've been awaiting Chee's sophomore novel, and here it finally is! A sweeping historical story...and the kind I personally love best, with a fictional protagonist moving among real historical figures. Lilliet Berne is a diva of 19th-century Paris opera on the cusp of world fame, but at what cost? Queen of the Night traffics in secrets, betrayal, intrigue, glitz, and grit. And if you can judge a book by its cover, this one's a real killer." - The Millions

From the Inside Flap

Praise for The Queen of the Night "A night at an opera you'll wish never-ending." - Helen Oyeyemi, author of Boy, Snow, Bird and Mr. Fox " The Queen of the Night is an astonishing universe into which its lucky readers can dissolve completely, metamorphosing alongside its shapeshifting protagonist. Lilliet Berne steals her name from a gravestone and launches into a life of full-throated song; her voice is an intoxicant, and this book is a glorious performance. Chee's enveloping, seductive prose is perfectly matched to the circus world of the opera." - Karen Russell, New York Times best-selling author of Swamplandia and Vampires in the Lemon Grove "A luminous tale of power and passion. Chee gives us an unforgettable heroine and a rich cast of characters-many of them real historical figures. The story dazzles and surprises right up until the final page." - J. Courtney Sullivan, New York Times best-selling author of Maine and The Engagements "One doesn't so much read Alexander Chee's The Queen of the Night as one is bewitched by it. Beneath its epic sweep, gorgeous language, and haunting details is the most elemental, and eternal, of narratives: that of the necessities and perils of self-reinvention, and the sorrow and giddiness of aspiring to a life of artistic transcendence." - Hanya Yanagihara, author of A Little Life and The People in the Trees "Alexander Chee packs his extraordinary second novel, The Queen of the Night, to the seams with music, love, misery, and secrets. The kind of book-world-characters-you could live inside, happily, for days and days and never once want to come up for air." - Kelly Link, author of Get in Trouble and Magic for Beginners "Chee's lush and sweeping second novel uses a strikingly different setting from Edinburgh, his accomplished debut, but shares its musical themes and boldness...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."- Publishers Weekly "Life as opera: the intrigues and passions of a star soprano in 19th-century Paris...Richly researched, ornately plotted, this story demands, and repays, close attention." - Kirkus, STARRED "We've been awaiting Chee's sophomore novel, and here it finally is! A sweeping historical story...and the kind I personally love best, with a fictional protagonist moving among real historical figures. Lilliet Berne is a diva of 19th-century Paris opera on the cusp of world fame, but at what cost? Queen of the Night traffics in secrets, betrayal, intrigue, glitz, and grit. And if you can judge a book by its cover, this one's a real killer." - The Millions

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

Publisher
Penguin
Publication date
2018
Language
English
ISBN 10 
0718185099
ISBN 13 
9780718185091
Binding
Paperback
Edition number
1
Number of pages
576

Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9780544925472: The Queen of the Night

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  0544925475 ISBN 13:  9780544925472
Publisher: Mariner Books, 2016
Softcover