Angel of Music, or The Private Life of Giselle

Angel of Music, or The Private Life of Giselle (2007) is a fictional novel by Russian author Maria Andrianova. It is a sequel to original Gaston Leroux's novel The Phantom of the Opera (1910). This book is the first officially published Russian fanfiction work on the Phantom of the Opera theme and it is illustrated by the author, who is a professional artist.

Plot summary

Erik has not died, though his spirit is dead to the world. The Persian, the daroga (called "Aslan" in this novel), helps Erik out of mere pity, feeling sorry for him. Erik stays in the Opera but he has lost interest in life. But someone in the Opera has not lost interest in him. It is a beautiful and talented young ballerina, Camilla Fonteyn, a brave and charming girl, and a ball of fire. She adores mysteries and wants to solve the secret behind the Phantom of the Opera and that obscure affair of Christine Daae. She is persistent and quite soon encounters Erik - and in time her caring and love will bring him back to life and recover his spirits.

But her charms work not only on Erik, but also on the poor daroga, who becomes her admirer, and unfortunately on a rich aristocrat, Anri Nerval, who turns out to be a mysterious "Parisian Vampire" - a maniac and sadist who haunts the night streets of Paris. He kills for the pleasure of seeing young women bleeding to death. He patronizes Camilla in her ballet career, as her greatest dream is to dance the part of Giselle in the ballet of the same name. She is truly bewildered by the fate of Giselle, the girl who died because of a broken heart but remained true to the man she'd loved even after her death. Nerval helps Camilla to receive the part, but later it turns out that he even may kill Camilla, if she won't fit in his plans or desires. He also pursues Erik, the "Phantom of the Opera", along with the Secret Police of France (who wants Erik's inventions and tricks).