Colette Gale
Unmasqued
Parisians are always at a masked ball.
Many versions of the Paris Opera House and its alleged "Phantom of the Opera" have been told in the last century and a half. Gaston Leroux's tale has often been considered the most accurate because it was based on official reports filed in Paris at the time of the events in question.
Hollywood, in its turn, has interpreted the book in different ways, taking dramatic license where and when the producers and directors wished. The most famous version, the wildly successful stage musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber, subsequently adapted for film, promoted yet a different version of the story.
It was not until this author received the personal diaries of Miss Christine Daae (and validated their authenticity) that the true story became known: the story that appears in this volume.
Initially, this author's intention was to keep the diaries private in deference to Miss Daae's family, and that of the Chagny brothers, but upon further consideration, I came to feel that in all fairness to Christine and Erik, the truth could no longer be obscured.
For decades, as the romantic, horrific legend of the Phantom of the Opera has been told, Erik has been portrayed as a murderous villain, Christine as the helpless, manipulated ingenue, and Vicomte Raoul de Chagny as the brave, love-struck swain.
In fact, the actual events of those months at the Opera House are quite different from the official version promoted by Monsieur Leroux and the Parisian officials (most likely, in this author's opinion, in order to protect the reputation, and influence, of the Chagny family).
Much of what is purported to be fact by these sources apparently came from a mysterious individual identified only as "the Persian," who claimed to be an intimate of the Opera Ghost. In fact, in all research and in the documents that make up the basis of this authors studies, there is no such person or entity either described or alluded to. It can only be construed, then, that this mysterious personage was merely a figment of the imagination of Leroux and the Parisian officials, created in their attempt to clear all blame from the Chagny brothers.
Thus, the story that appears in this volume is taken directly, and in all explicit detail, from the diaries and journals of Christine Daae. I have also included details from her personal letters from the ballet mistress Madame Maude Giry, with whom Christine apparently developed a deep friendship after the events described herein.