The Phantom of Manhattan

The Phantom of Manhattan

First edition (UK)
Author	Frederick Forsyth
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Genre	Thriller, Mystery, Romance
Publisher	Bantam Books (UK) St. Martin's Press (US)
Publication date	November 1999
Media type	Print (Hardcover, Paperback & Mass Market Paperback)
Pages	204
ISBN

The Phantom of Manhattan, a 1999 novel by Frederick Forsyth, is a sequel to the 1909 novel Le Fantôme de l'Opéra by Gaston Leroux.

Forsyth's literary concept is that Leroux had recorded factual events but, in review, had apparently not checked his facts or viewed his sources with a critical eye. Accordingly, the novel can be read as both a tribute to Leroux's novel and a satire of period novels in the vein of George MacDonald Fraser's The Flashman Papers series (both a satire and exploration of Victorian history and stories).

The beginning of The Phantom of Manhattan is narrated by an ailing Madame Giry, and set in the early 1900s. Famous individuals of the time, such as Theodore Roosevelt, make appearances.

The 2010 stage sequel to the musical The Phantom of the Opera, Love Never Dies, is based partly on The Phantom of Manhattan.

The Phantom of Manhattan tells its story from the viewpoint of several characters.

On her deathbed, Madame Giry confesses to a priest of when she took her daughter Meg, then six years old, to a fair. Madame Giry felt sorry for a young boy with a disfigured face who had been ill-treated that she crept back to the fair at night and stole him. She took the boy to her apartment where she cared for him until she had grown to love him like a son. The boy, Erik, recounted that he had been sold to the circus by his abusive father shortly after his mother had run away with her lover. For reasons of security, Madame Giry took him to the Opera house where she worked; he hid out in the catacombs, stealing books and other appliances to educate himself. Over time, as a result of missing objects, the legend of the phantom was born. Erik had fallen in love with Christine Daaé, a young chorus girl who did not return his feelings. Driven by rage, Erik abducted Christine and accidentally killed the tenor Piangi when he was trying to silence him. A mob found their way to his home but all they found was Christine and the Vicomte De Chagny, Erik having already fled to Madame Giry's apartment on a ship bound for New York. Madame Giry, who had paid for Erik's passage, then addresses her lawyer Armand Dufour, telling him to go to New York and find Erik; Madame Giry gave Armand a letter she had written to give to Erik; she said it contained important and vital information for him.