Music Against the Night

As the eighteenth century draws to a close, a young musical prodigy comes of age in Dublin. John Field is awkward, sensitive, and extraordinarily gifted, with a family convinced he could become the next Mozart. His talent carries him from England to France and eventually Russia, where he becomes a celebrated pianist and composes dreamy, atmospheric pieces he calls nocturnes: music that will later be immortalized by Chopin.

Thousands of miles away in French India, Adelaide Percheron is charting a different path. Orphaned young and raised by her formidable grandmother, Adelaide grows up an outsider, with neither wealth nor aristocratic connections to secure her future. But her secret passion for music—and her longing to see the world—leads her to a pianoforte, and eventually inspires her escape to Paris and Moscow as Napoleon’s armies sweep across Europe.

Amid rival prodigies, demanding tutors, reluctant guardians, and the real-life masters of their craft, John and Adelaide pursue success as musicians, and as future husband and wife. Their paths unfold against a backdrop of political and artistic upheaval, forcing them to reckon with the uneasy balance between talent and genius, ambition and legacy, profit and passion. Ultimately, they must decide what (and whom) they are willing to sacrifice for the lives they want.