Bel Canto

Somewhere in South America, at the home of the country's vice president, a lavish birthday party is being held in honor of a powerful Japanese businessman. A famous American opera diva entertains the international guests. It is a night out of a fairytale--until a band of gun-wielding terrorists breaks in through the air-conditioning vents and takes the entire party hostage.

But what begins as a panicked, life-threatening scenario turns into something quite different, as terrorists and hostages forge unexpected bonds, people from different countries and continents become compatriots, and passionate, ill-fated love blooms upon this unlikely soil.

Ann Patchett is the author of six novels and three books of nonfiction. She has won many prizes, including Britain's Orange Prize, the PEN/Faulkner Prize, and the Book Sense Book of the Year. Her work has been translated into more than thirty languages. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee, where she is the co-owner of Parnassus Books.