Queen of the Night by Alexander Chee: Book Review

The Queen of the Night is a crazy, dramatic journey of an opera singer, Lilliet Berne. I originally started reading it right after my trip to France in August 2018, inspired after roaming the streets of the Marais and learning a little more about Paris after spending a couple of days there. It took me a while to get through this book, as I discovered I'm not a huge fan of opera and the story is confusing with so many characters to follow. This novel is told from the perspective of Lilliet Berne, "a legendary soprano with every accolade except an original role." Her life is insanity- the beginning opera scene did not appeal to me as much as the story of her family hardship, traveling to another continent, joining a circus, becoming a prostitute, forming a web of love and affairs, and surviving seiges. To me, the narrative was confusing partially because it is meant to be: there is mystery surrounding the start even though the story is from the perspective of the pro...