by Yiyun Li
First published 2026
Dublin-born John Field arrives in Russia in the early 1800s, his piano compositions earning him recognition as he develops the nocturne form that will later make Chopin famous. His wife Adelaide Percheron brings her own fierce musical ambitions from French Pondicherry in India, training alongside Field as their careers intertwine. While Field gains prominence in Russian musical circles, Adelaide faces the greater obstacles that block women artists from success. Their marriage becomes a battleground of competing dreams as they navigate the commercial demands of the music world. Across seven decades, their journey takes them from Dublin's drawing rooms to London's concert halls, from Parisian salons to St. Petersburg's palaces, and back to the colonial outposts of India. Field's nocturnes flow from his fingers while Adelaide struggles against the forces that would silence her voice. Their story captures how art gets shaped by money and power, how talent can be both cultivated and exploited, and how two people can love each other while fighting for the same prize.
Genres: drama, literary-fiction, historical-fiction, biographical-fiction, music, 19th-century
Vibes: ambitious, intimate, lyrical, melancholic, thought-provoking
Tropes: artistic-struggle, competing-ambitions, cross-cultural-romance, power-imbalance
Setting: Dublin, Russia, London, Paris, St. Petersburg, Pondicherry, India
Period: Early 1800s, 19th century
352 pages · Hardcover · Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Content warnings: sexism