Deceit. Treachery. A life-altering secret comes to life. And a mind struggles against bonds promised by the heart long ago.... Nineteen-year-old Christian de Chagny knows where he gets some of his physical characteristics—from his mother, Christine Daae de Chagny. But where does his musical genius come from, when his father, Count Raoul de Chagny, can barely hum a tune? From the moment Christian questions his mother and she nearly faints to the novel's heartrending conclusion, Progeny is a breathless winding trek through the lives of Christian, Christine, Raoul, and the masked Master of Music—the man at the center of all of their lives—Erik, the Phantom of the Opera.