List of fictional literature featuring opera

This is a list of literary fiction which features opera in the plot. "Features" excludes fleeting mentions: for a literary work to be on this list opera must be a significant part of the plot, or, alternatively, provide siginificant context and backdrop. The bibliographic references are to the date and place of earliest publication.

Authors A-B

* [anon] : Aus den Memoiren einer Sängerin ("Pauline: memoirs of a singer", or "Promiscuous Pauline"; or, "The Memoirs of a German Opera Singer")
Stuttgart: Franck, 1829. Fictionalized biography of the opera singer Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient.
*Martha Albrand: Final encore -- New York: St. Martin's Press, 1978.ISBN 0312289413.
*Kingsley Amis: The Alteration
*Oskar Paul Wilhelm Anwand: Die Primadonna Friedrichs des Grossen. -- Berlin: R. Bong, 1930. -- Fictionalized account of the love affair between Gertrud Elisabeth Mara and Frederick II of Prussia
*Laura Argiri: The God In Flight New York: Random House, 1994. ISBN 0679428313
*Gertrude Atherton: Tower of Ivory New York: Macmillan Co., 1910.
*Honoré de Balzac: Gambara; features an opera by its eponymous composer on the life of Mahomet, as well as a disquisition on Meyerbeer's opera "Robert le diable"
*Charles Barnard: The soprano: a musical story
*Robert Barnard : Death on the High C's
*Robert Barnard: Death and the Chaste Apprentice
*Eva Fanny Bernhardine Turk Baudissin, Grafin von:: Wilhelmine Schroder-Devrient: der Schicksalsweg einer grossen Kunstlerin
*Ines Castellani Fantoni Benaglio: Mario
*Edward Frederic Benson: Queen Lucia
*Edward Frederic Benson: Lucia in London
*Edward Frederic Benson: Trouble for Lucia
*Siegfried Berger: Der Konig und die Sangerin: ein heiterer Roman
*Manfred Bieler : Der Madchenkrieg
*Dan Billamy: Opera House Murders
*David Black: Murder at the Met
*Janos Bokay: Bohemek es pillangok
*Vance Bourjaily: Now playing at Canterbury
*Malcolm Bradbury: Why come to Slaka?; features the interminable Slakan national opera "Vedontakal Vrop", by Z. Leblat.
*Marion Zimmer Bradley: Night's Daughter
*Marion Zimmer Bradley: The Forest House
*Richard Brickner : Tickets
*Carter Brown : The Savage Salome
*Anthony Burgess : Earthly Powers
*Dino Buzzati: Paura alla Scala
*May Clarissa Gillington Byron: A day with Richard Wagner

Authors C

*James M. Cain: A Career in C Major
*James M. Cain: Mildred Pierce
*James M. Cain: Serenade
*Joseph Caldwell : The Uncle from Rome
*Paola Capriolo: Vissi d'amore (translated as Floria Tosca)
*Roger M. Carew: The Contralto
*John Stewart Carter: Full Fathom Five
*Willa Cather: The Song of the Lark
*Willa Cather: Lucy Gayheart
*Willa Cather: A Wagner Matinee
*Frances Cavanah: Two Loves for Jenny Lind
*Rodolfo Celletti: Tu che la vanita
*Robin Close: The Boheme Combination
*Francis Marion Crawford: The Diva's Ruby
*Francis Marion Crawford: The Primadonna
*Francis Marion Crawford: Soprano; a Portrait (also published as: Fair Margaret; a Portrait)
*Edmund Crispin: Swan Song

Authors D

*Mary Daheim: Bantam of the Opera
*Marcia Davenport : Of Lena Geyer and My Brother's Keeper
*Marc David: Farinelli: Memoires d'un castrat
*Robertson Davies: The Lyre of Orpheus
*Robertson Davies: The Manticore
*Robertson Davies: A Mixture of Frailties
*Kathryn Davis: The Girl Who Trod on a Loaf
*Ken Davis: The Forza Trap
*Mary Deasy: Ella Gunning
*Georges Delaquys: La naissance de Tristan
*Colin Dexter: "The Inspector Morse series"
*Michael Dibdin: Cosi Fan Tutti
*Philip K. Dick: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
*Klemens Diez: Constanze - gewesene Witwe Mozart (Constanze, formerly widow of Mozart: her unwritten memoir
*Carole Nelson Douglas: Good morning, Irene
*Carole Nelson Douglas: Good night, Mr. Holmes
*Carole Nelson Douglas: Irene at Large
*Arthur Conan Doyle: A Scandal in Bohemia
*Fortune du Boisgobey: Le crime de l'opera (The crime of the opera house)
*Diane Duane: The book of night with moon
*George du Maurier: Trilby
*Jane Duncan: My friends from Cairnton
*Dorothy Dunnett: The photogenic soprano
*Dorothy Dunnett: Dolly and the singing bird (retitled as Rum Affair)

Authors E-F

*Erich Ebermayer: Die goldene Stimme
*Anne Edwards: La Divina
*George Eliot: Daniel Deronda
*Peter Berresford Ellis: The Druids
*Dominique Fernandez: Porporino, or The Secret of Naples
*Kurt Arnold Findeisen: Flugel der Morgenrote
*Grete Fink-Tobich: Mir erkoren, mir verloren
*M. F. K. Fisher: A Town in Provence
*Gustave Flaubert: Madame Bovary
*E.M. Forster: Where Angels Fear to Tread
*Helena von Fortenbach: Wahn und Wahrheit
*Jessie Fothergill: The first violin
*Arnaldo Fraccaroli: Bellini
*Arnaldo Fraccaroli: Donizetti
*Don Freeman and Lydia Freeman: Pet of the Met
*Nancy Freedman: Prima Donna
*Max Frisch: Mein Name sei Gantenbein (A wilderness of mirrors)
*Kurt Frischler: Der Maestro
*Rene Fulop-Miller: Katzenmusik (Sing, brat, sing)

Authors G-H

*John Gano: Death at the Opera
*Paul J. Gillette: Carmela
*Oskar Gluth: Der verhexte Spitzweg
*Thomas Godfrey (ed): Murder at the Opera: a collection of eleven murder mysteries
*Curt Goetz: Die Tote von Beverly Hills
*Lawrence Goldman: The Castrato
*Umberto Gozzano: Rossini; il romanzo dell'opera
*Elizabeth Caroline Grey: The Young Prima Donna: a romance of the opera
*Karen Harbaugh: The Vampire Viscount
*Macdonald Harris: Herma
*Andrew Harvey: Burning Houses
*Josef Haslinger: Opernball
*William James Henderson: The Soul of a Tenor: a Romance
*Hermann Hesse: Gertrud
*Patricia Highsmith: The Boy Who Followed Ripley
*John Spencer Hill: The Last Castrato
*E. T. A. Hoffman: Ritter Gluck: eine Erinnerung aus dem Jahre 1809
*Tom Holt: Expecting Someone Taller
*Tom Holt: Flying Dutch
*James Huneker: Painted Veils

Authors I-K

*Ingo Insterburg: Das Leben des Otto Darmstadt
*John Irving: The Hotel New Hampshire
*Anna Jacobson: Nachklange Richard Wagners im Roman
*Ottokar Janetschek: Der Konig und sein Meister
*Ottokar Janetschek: Die Primadonna: ein Mozartroman
*Fred G. Jarvis: Murder at the Met
*Robert F. Joseph: The Diva
*James Joyce: Ulysses
*Stuart Kaminsky: Poor Butterfly
*Carol J. Kane: Diva
*Susan Kay: Phantom
*Terry Kay: Shadow song
*H. R. F. Keating: Death of a Fat God
*Doris Parkin Keil: The Ploughboy and the Nightingale
*Jane Kingsford: The Soprano: a Musical Story
*James Kirkwood, Jr.: Good Times/Bad Times
*Gustav Kobbé: "'Signora, a child of the opera house
*Zdenko von Kraft: Abend in Bayreuth
*Zdenko von Kraft: Wahnfried: ein Richard-Wagner-Roman
*Max Kronberg: Feuerzauber: ein Lebens-Roman Richard Wagners
*Max Kronberg: Konig und Kunstler: Roman Konig Ludwigs II. und Richard Wagner
*Max Kronberg: Der Sieg der Melodie: ein Puccini-Caruso-Roman
*Joachim Kuupsch: Ein Ende in Dresden: ein Richard-Wagner-Roman

Authors L

*Maria Lang (pseudonym of Dagmar Lange): Camilla vid skiljevagen
*Fritz Lange: Johann Strauss, der Walzerkonig
*Lillian Lauferty: Baritone
*Lilian Lee (Pi-hua Li): Farewell My Concubine (Pa-wang pieh Chi)
*Lotte Lehmann: Orplid, mein Land
*Donna Leon: Death at La Fenice
*Gaston Leroux: The Phantom of the Opera
*Endre Levai & Endre Barat: La vie fantastique de Caruso
*William Lewis: Gala
*Shariann Lewitt: Interface Masque
*Matthias Lichtenfels: Ludwig II, Konig von Bayern
*Charles Ludlam: Galas

Authors M

*Alfred Machard: Une vie d'amour: Puccini
*Joseph Machlis: The Career of Madga V
*Charlotte MacLeod: The Plain Old Man
*Gladys Malvern: Blithe Genius: the story of Rossini
*Klaus Mann: Vergittertyes Fenster
*Thomas Mann: Tristan
*Thomas Mann: Wälsungenblut (The Blood of the Wälsungs)
*Queena Mario: Death drops Delilah
*Queena Mario: Murder in the opera house
*Queena Mario: Murder meets Mephisto
*Ngaio Marsh: Photo Finish
*Armistead Maupin: Tales of the City
*Julian May: Jack the Bodiless
*Martin Mayer: A Voice That Fills the House
*James McCourt: Mawrdew Czgowchwz
*Brown Meggs: Aria
*Robert Merrill and Fred G. Jarvis: The Divas
*Nicholas Meyer: The Canary Trainer: from the memoirs of John H. Watson, M.D.
*Grant Michaels: Mask for a Diva
*Edith Mikeleitis: Der grosse Mittag
*George Moore: Evelyn Innes
*Ethan Mordden: The Venice Adriana
*Iris Murdoch: A Fairly Honourable Defeat
*Tom Murphy: The Gigli Concert
*William Murray: When the Fat Man sings
*Henry Myers: The Signorina

Authors N-Q

*Roy Nash: Sing, my poor heart, sing
*Beverley Nichols: Evensong
*Hans Nowak and Georg Zivier: Die Macht des Schicksals: ein Verdi-Roman
*Kate O'Brien: As Music and Splendor
*Daniel Odier: Diva
*Eduard Marie Oettinger: Rossini
*Conrad L. Osborne: O Paradiso
*Barbara Paul: A Cadenza for Caruso
*Barbara Paul: A Chorus of Detectives
*Barbara Paul: Prima Donna at Large
*Laurence Payne: Vienna Blood
*Diane Pearson: Voices of Summer
*Ursula Perrin: Unheard Music
*Ellis Peters (Edith Pargeter): Funeral of Figaro
*Ellis Peters: The Horn of Roland
*Ellis Peters: The House of Green Turf
*Ellis Peters: The Will and the Deed
*Audrey Peterson: Deadly Rehearsal
*Frederik Pohl: Outnumbering the Dead
*Terry Pratchett: Maskerade
*Wilhelm Pultz: Die Geburt der deutschen Oper
*James Purdy : Out with the Stars
*Barbara Pym: The Sweet Dove Died

Authors R

*Heribert Rau: Carl Maria von Weber
*John Reeves: Murder with muskets
*Hans Reisigner: Unruhiges Gestirn: Die Jugend Richard Wagners (Restless star: the youth of Richard Wagner)
*Pierre-Jean Remy: Cordelia ou l'Angleterre
*Pierre-Jean Remy: La mort de Floria Tosca
*Pierre-Jean Remy: Salue pour moi le monde
*Anne Rice: Cry to Heaven
*Henry Handel Richardson: The Young Cosima, a novel
*Hermann Richter: Das wilde Herz
*Blanche Roosevelt: Stage-struck; or, She would be an opera-singer
*Kate Ross: The Devil in Music
*Anneliese Rothenberger: In mir klingt ein Lied: die schonsten Geschichten aus der Welt der Musik
*Jean Rousselot: La vie passionnee de Wagner
*Anthony Rudel: Imagining Don Giovanni

Authors S

*Pitts Sanborn: Prima Donna, a novel of the opera
*George Sand: La Comtesse de Rudolstadt
*George Sand: Consuelo
*Heinrich Satter: Angelica Catalani: Primadonna der Kaiser und Konige
*Phillip Scott: One Dead Diva
*Eugène Scribe: Carlo Broschi: nouvelle historique
*Alberic Second: Les petits mystères de l'Opera
*Sam Siciliano: The Angel of the opera: Sherlock Holmes meets the Phantom of the Opera
*Alphons Silbermann: Das imaginare Tagebuch des Herrn Jacques Offenbach
*Gerald Sinstadt: The Fidelio Score
*Kay Nolte Smith: Elegy for a Soprano
*Susan Sontag: The Volcano Lover
*Susannah Stacey: A Knife At The Opera
*Edward Stewart: Ariana
*Lene Stuhlfaut: Nur wer durch Feuer bricht
*Gladys Swarthout: Come Soon, Tomorrow: the story of a young singer

Authors T-Z

*Frank Thiess: Caruso: Roman einer Stimme
*Frank Thiess: Der Tenor von Trapani
*Roderick Thorp: Jenny and Barnum: a novel of love
*Leo Tolstoy: War and Peace
*Helen Traubel: The Metropolitan Opera Murders
*Anthony Trollope: The Landleaguers
*Carl Van Vechten: Interpreters and interpretations
*Jules Verne: Dr. Ox's Experiment (Une Fantasie du Docteur Ox)
*Barbara Vine (Ruth Rendell): No Night is Too Long
*Franz Werfel: Verdi: Roman der Oper
*Edith Wharton: The Age of Innocence
*Kirby Williams: The Opera Murders
*Audrey Williamson: Funeral March for Siegfried
*Chelsea Quinn Yarbro: Music when Sweet Voices Die (later retitled: False Notes)