The Queen of the Night, Alexander Chee

François Flameng, Equestrienne Au Cirque Fernando, 1890

(November 13, 2017) It took me over a year to finish this, but I don't know why, because I liked it a lot, right from the start. It is long, but mostly it lingered because it is a story easy to put down and pick up, being picaresque, and my other library books at the time had more relentless deadlines.

As I look at reviews I see the exact words I would use to describe it -- lush, sweeping, rags-to-riches, picaresque, "all the glorious elements of great operas of the era: love at first sight, disguise, intrigue, grief, betrayal, secrets, scheming aristocrats, a besotted tenor, dramatic escapes, grand settings, fabulous costumes, murder, fallen women, sacrifice -- the follies of humans at the mercy of Fate."

The plupart of the appeal for me is that it is a collection of interesting stories about interesting women.

But I also loved the details about Victorian life and particularly Victorian life for people in opera (or music in general) in the second French empire... Chee takes up so many fascinating tangents just to enjoy late 19th-century things, and his joy is contagious.

The ending was surprising, and great.

I learned of this book through The Toast, when the author, Alexander Chee, was interviewed for his advice to young writers.