First Night

A deception, a scandal, a forbidden passion, a great friendship, and a dangerous love. Christabel’s dream has come true. Standing before the audience at Lissenberg’s new opera house, she takes a bow to rapturous applause… and her father’s burning shame. With her reputation destroyed and her prospects in ruins, she is sent back to England in disgrace. But the scandal brings her to the attention of an American heiress with an unorthodox proposition. An unlikely alliance is formed and Christabel is closer than ever to a life of Opera stardom, but an opportunity draws her back to Lissenberg, and back to Max, the man she left behind. First Night is a tale of love, ambition, political intrigue, and cruel twists of fate set against the dramatic backdrop of 19th century Napoleonic Europe. First Night was originally published in 1989.