The Queen of the Night
THE QUEEN OF THE NIGHT
“One doesn’t so much read Alexander Chee’s The Queen of the Night as one is bewitched by it," says Hanya Yanagihara, of Alexander Chee’s much anticipated second novel: one woman’s rise from pioneer girl to circus rider to courtesan to world-renowned diva in 19th Century Paris.
Buy The Queen of the Night from your preferred bookseller:
Hardcover Ebook
Read the first chapter, available online at Longreads.
Early praise for The Queen of the Night
“A night at an opera you’ll wish never-ending.”
Helen Oyeyemi, author of Mr. Fox and Boy Snow Bird
“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 transcendance.”
Hanya Yanagihara, author of A Little Life and People In The Trees
“The Queen of the Night is a luminous 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
“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.”
Illustration by Carl J. Ferrero.
Kelly Link, author of Get In Trouble and Magic For Beginners
“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 Time’s Best-Selling author of Maine and The Engagements
“Richly researched, ornately plotted, this story demands, and repays, close attention.”
Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review
“Chee’s lush and sweeping second novel uses a strikingly different setting from his accomplished debut, Edinburgh, but shares its musical themes and boldness… a moving meditation on the transformative power of fate, art, time, and sheer survival.”
Publisher’s Weekly