Bel Canto

Winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award • Winner of the Orange Prize • National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist • New York Times Readers’ Pick: Top 100 Books of the 21st Century

"Bel Canto is its own universe. A marvel of a book." —Washington Post Book World

Ann Patchett’s spellbinding novel about love and opera, and the unifying ways people learn to communicate across cultural barriers in times of crisis. 

Somewhere in South America, at the home of the country's vice president, a lavish birthday party is being held in honor of the powerful businessman Mr. Hosokawa. Roxanne Coss, opera's most revered soprano, has mesmerized 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.

Patchett's lyrical prose and lucid imagination make Bel Canto a captivating story of strength and frailty, love and imprisonment, and an inspiring tale of transcendent romance.

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Published Feb 7, 2023

318 pages

Average rating: 7.45

340 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

boyleschris
Dec 15, 2024
Lesa's current read; likes this author
frannie-puckett
Mar 17, 2024
8/10 stars
I read this book on recommendation from a friend in my book club. It reminded me somewhat of A Gentleman in Moscow as it pertains to people who are confined to one space and how they adapt. I was very drawn in by the characters in Bel Canto and couldn’t wait to see how it ended. The Audible version was enhanced by the narrator’s ease of Italian and other foreign languages.
Slf
May 01, 2025
4/10 stars
Ugh! Such a slow pace with such unrealistic action. I’ve tried to read 3 books by this author; first two were DNF. This one I forced myself to finish.
JCousin
Apr 23, 2025
9/10 stars
A beautifully written love story.
wardbunch
Mar 26, 2025
4/10 stars
Gave up after 3 hours of listening. Didn't care enough to get to the end. Sorry.

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