Bel Canto

by Ann Patchett

3.73 of 5 stars 11 ratings • 3 reviews • 28 shelved
Book cover for Bel Canto

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Winner of The Women’s Prize for Fiction and the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction.

The poignant – and at times very funny – novel from the author of The Dutch House and Commonwealth.

Somewhere in South America, at the home of the country's vice president, a lavish birthday party is being held in honour of the powerful businessman Mr. Hosokawa. Roxane Coss, opera's most revered soprano, has mesmerised the international guests with her singing.

It is a perfect evening – until a band of gun-wielding terrorists takes the entire party hostage. But what begins as a panicked, life-threatening scenario slowly evolves into something quite different, a moment of great beauty, as terrorists and hostages forge unexpected bonds and people from different continents become compatriots, intimate friends, and lovers.

  • ISBN13 9781841155838
  • Publish Date 30 April 2002 (first published 22 May 2001)
  • Publish Status Active
  • Publish Country GB
  • Publisher HarperCollins Publishers
  • Imprint Fourth Estate Ltd