Yiyun Li

What does it cost to chase genius? Yiyun Li joins us to discuss Music Against the Night, her thrillingly imagined saga of two musicians — coming of age oceans apart — who mature, study, travel, love, grieve, and above all, chase their ambitions across a continent in upheaval.

In Dublin, as the eighteenth century nears its end, a musical virtuoso comes of age. John Field, an awkward and sensitive child, is preternaturally gifted, and his family envisions him becoming the next Mozart. His talent takes him far — to England, France, and then Russia, where he becomes a famous pianist and composes dreamy melodies that enchant the night air. John calls them nocturnes, but the prodigy who immortalizes them is Chopin.

Oceans away in Pondicherry, Adelaide Percheron has a startling rise of her own. Orphaned at a young age, she is raised by her enterprising grandmother. Without a connection to aristocracy or the luxury of riches, only marriage seems to offer prosperity — until she sets her sights on a pianoforte. Driven by her secret love of music and a desire to see the world, she engineers her exodus, escaping to Paris and Moscow, as Napoleon’s army sets out to conquer the continent.

Peopled by rival prodigies, irate tutors, begrudging guardians, and true-to-life masters of the trade, Yiyun Li’s polyphonic novel depicts two aspiring musicians in pursuit of success. Their struggles unfold amid political and artistic upheaval and pit them against the forces of their time. As they each try to chart a path between talent and genius, success and legacy, profit and passion, they must decide what, and even who, is worth sacrificing along the way. Music Against the Night comes to life with the sweep and dimension of the Romantic era and a deep understanding of the demands of living and of art.