In Dublin, as the 18th century nears its end, a young musical virtuoso comes of age. John Field is preternaturally gifted, and his family has visions of him becoming the next Mozart. His talent eventually takes him to Russia, where he becomes a famous pianist and composes dreamy, languorous melodies that enchant the night air. John calls them nocturnes, but the prodigy who immortalizes them is Chopin. Oceans away in Pondicherry, in French India, Adelaide Percheron is raised by her imperious, enterprising grandmother. Her cousins give her the name Percherette, an impish reminder that she is not one of the crowd. Without a connection to aristocracy or the luxury of riches, only marriage seems to offer prosperity --- until she sets her sights on a pianoforte.

In Dublin, as the 18th century nears its end, a young musical virtuoso comes of age. John Field is preternaturally gifted, and his family has visions of him becoming the next Mozart. His talent eventually takes him to Russia, where he becomes a famous pianist and composes dreamy, languorous melodies that enchant the night air. John calls them nocturnes, but the prodigy who immortalizes them is Chopin. Oceans away in Pondicherry, in French India, Adelaide Percheron is raised by her imperious, enterprising grandmother. Her cousins give her the name Percherette, an impish reminder that she is not one of the crowd. Without a connection to aristocracy or the luxury of riches, only marriage seems to offer prosperity --- until she sets her sights on a pianoforte.

Figures of the past find new life in Yiyun Li’s thrillingly imagined saga following two musicians as they mature, study, travel, love, grieve and, above all, chase their ambitions.

In Dublin, as the 18th century nears its end, a young musical virtuoso comes of age. John Field, an awkward and sensitive child, is preternaturally gifted, and his family has visions of 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, languorous melodies that enchant the night air. John calls them nocturnes, but the prodigy who immortalizes them is Chopin.

Oceans away in Pondicherry, in French India, Adelaide Percheron has a startling rise of her own. Orphaned at a young age, she is raised by her imperious, enterprising grandmother. Her cousins give her the name Percherette, an impish reminder that despite their shared relations, Adelaide is not one of the crowd, owing to her parents’ differing ancestry. 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, Percherette engineers her exodus, escaping to Paris and later to Moscow, as Napoleon’s army sets out to conquer the continent.

Peopled by rival prodigies, irate tutors, begrudging guardians, and the true-to-life masters of the trade, Yiyun Li’s magisterial, polyphonic novel depicts two aspiring musicians --- destined to be husband and wife --- in pursuit of success. Their struggles unfold amid political and artistic upheaval and pit them against the forces of their time. As John and Adelaide 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.

Drawing inspiration from the past but finding entirely new forms, 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.

Audiobook available, read by Harriet Carmichael 

In Victorian England, no woman --- not even a brilliant economist like Reina Martin --- is allowed to open her own bank account. Together with her mentor, the powerful banker William Farlow, Reina will build the first all-women’s bank, where women can manage their own financial security. But soon she is shocked to discover that her enigmatic butler, John Pembroke, is an undercover police detective. He’s been assigned to investigate Farlow, who’s suspected of financial crime on a scale so massive that it could destabilize the British economy. Pembroke needs Reina’s expertise for a high-stakes nighttime heist to obtain incriminating evidence. Now she faces the agonizing choice of betraying her mentor or turning her back on thousands of working-class families who stand to lose everything.

In Victorian England, no woman --- not even a brilliant economist like Reina Martin --- is allowed to open her own bank account. Together with her mentor, the powerful banker William Farlow, Reina will build the first all-women’s bank, where women can manage their own financial security. But soon she is shocked to discover that her enigmatic butler, John Pembroke, is an undercover police detective. He’s been assigned to investigate Farlow, who’s suspected of financial crime on a scale so massive that it could destabilize the British economy. Pembroke needs Reina’s expertise for a high-stakes nighttime heist to obtain incriminating evidence. Now she faces the agonizing choice of betraying her mentor or turning her back on thousands of working-class families who stand to lose everything.

From New York Times bestselling author Lisa Kleypas --- a sweeping, richly layered Victorian novel about a trailblazing female economist who’s determined to build Britain’s first women’s bank, but she must fight both financial corruption and a system intent on destroying the newly found family she’s created.

In Victorian England, no woman --- not even a brilliant economist like Reina Martin --- is allowed to open her own bank account. Men will take care of everything, women are told. But Reina knows better. As the illegitimate daughter of a Spanish immigrant mother, she’s haunted by the memory of living with unpaid grocer’s bills and no coal for the hearth.

So together with her mentor, the powerful banker William Farlow, Reina will build the first all-women’s bank, where women can manage their own financial security.

At home, Reina’s domestic staff of recently paroled prisoners are building new lives and becoming a found family. But soon Reina is shocked to discover that her enigmatic butler, John Pembroke, is an undercover police detective. He’s been assigned to investigate Farlow, who’s suspected of financial crime on a scale so massive that it could destabilize the British economy. Pembroke needs Reina’s expertise for a high-stakes nighttime heist to obtain incriminating evidence.

Now Reina faces the agonizing choice of betraying her mentor or turning her back on thousands of working-class families who stand to lose everything. Either way, her dream of the women’s bank may be over.

But courage and sacrifice aren’t limited to the battlefield --- they also occur at the kitchen table, where women who believe in compassion and community are working to remake the future. And when the stakes are highest, Reina knows to trust her heart, as well as her intellect.

Based on real-life trailblazers such as Mary Paley Marshall, Britain’s first female economist, and financial titan Hetty Green, QUEEN OF LOMBARD STREET brings to light the hidden history of extraordinary women whose achievements should be celebrated. How can we know who we are if we don’t know who we were?

Audiobook available, read by Mary Jane Wells and Joe Jameson