Phantom

Susan Kay

10/14/2006

"All my instincts warned me against...which suddenly seemed so strangely and irresistibly threatening." - Nadir

This statement from Susan Kay's Phantom fits my attitude towards this novel. I found it compelling and offputting at the same time. I couldn't not continue to read it, yet I often had to put it down and get away from it. But by the last third I was completely entwined with the story. At the end, I was crying. Gaston Leroux wrote the original The Phantom of the Opera in1911. Susan Kay has taken the general outline Leroux drew of Erik's life and filled in the spaces. Phantom is a haunting novel of the ugly Erik's tragic life.

Madeline's account opens this novel of her marriage and birth of her son. Erik is born with a horridly disfigured face. She rejects this boy because of his appearance. As she says, the first thing she made for her baby was a mask. At eight or nine Erik takes over his story. He runs away from home. He cannot stand being rejected by his mother any longer. He is forced to join a troup of gypsies and become part of the freak show. He eventually leaves that and in Paris he studies one of his loves - architecture. He then is forced to leave that profession. Once again he joins circuses and travels the world. He has a natural musical talent - so beautiful it's as if the beauty of his voice stole all of his face.

Erik is beseeched to go to Persia. He accepts the offer and visits the country, using his architectural knowledge to build a new summer home for the shah. His face and his voice amuse the shah's mother, the most powerful woman in the kingdom. Most importantly, Erik makes a friend with Nadir, the daroga who sought him out and brought him to Persia. When it is politically time to leave that country, Nadir helps him escape.

Once again Erik returns to Paris. He helps build the Opera above ground as he builds and hides his home underneath it. He plans to live out his life there quietly, avoiding the world that has been cruel to him. Then, one day, he hears Christine Daae sing...

Susan Kay has brought Erik to wrenching life. I would not have discovered this book on my own. I had read Leroux's work ten years ago or so. Andrew Lloyd Weber's show is a favorite of mine. Kay has taken the haunting terror from the original story and instead brings Erik to the reader as a haunted man. Whether you've read Leroux's book or seen the musical or any of the movie versions or not. you'll find this novel compelling and a good read. An enjoyable read? Not necessarily. But Erik's story will stay with you.

Phantom is listed at as long as you don't want it immediately. The original The Phantom of the Opera is available, too. Expect to be pulled into a dark and heartbreaking world.