Reines de la Nuit: Alexander Chee L.A. Review of Books “Opera functions in the novel as a way that Lilliet argues with fate. Part of the inspiration for the novel was coming across both Oscar Wilde and Joan Didion saying that the stories you write become true. It was also interesting to me the way in which your dramatic role in opera is decided by your voice, and you’re always confined to those types because of those sounds. The relationship between those sounds and what we believe is true about people: all of that seemed like rich material to me.”–Alexander Chee Back to Essays & Stories