Advance Praise "This wondrous novel following two young musicians is brilliant on talent and ambition, disappointment and hope. It is wise and sad and beautifully-written, and witty too. I greatly admire Yiyun Li's work." --Louise Kennedy, author of Trespasses "Li brings her copious talents to explore the birth of the musical obsessions of two real-life musicians at the turn of the eighteenth century." --Carolyn Kellogg, The Boston Globe (Most Anticipated Fall Books) "Virtuosic in every way, Music Against the Night is a spellbinding read . Through Adelaide Percheron and John Field, we are forced to ask: What price must children pay to be ushered into the world of adults? At what cost, their talents and gifts? Yiyun Li gathers the unflinching answers that emerge and presents them to us with prose so beautiful it is a form of mercy ." --Maaza Mengiste, author of The Shadow King " Li balances beauty and futility in the tragic, lovely bargain that artists make with the world, with death, and with music itself. Music Against the Night is a wise and wonderful book.
" --Anne Enright " Music Against the Night manages to be at once a gorgeously reimagined epic and a sharply observed tale of ambition, art and sacrifice that speaks to current times . Yiyun Li is one of the most important writers alive , constantly in search of new ways of telling the most urgent stories." --Tash Aw " Music Against the Night may well be the most perfectly constructed, moving, and beautiful novel I've ever read. Yiyun Li is the best of all of us." --Ann Patchett, author of Whistler "[A] keen psychological study of the musicians and their muses . A virtuoso performance from Li. Brava! " -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "Li releases both characters from the margins, infusing history's elisions with fascinating layers and lingering resonance . [She] bestows literary immortality on these overlooked musicians .
" --Terry Hong, Booklist (starred review) "Li's creative, intelligent , trilogy-launching new novel highlights the power of music." --Tina Panik, Publishers Weekly (Top 10 Literary Fiction - Fall 2026 Preview).