Book Review: Bel Canto

Title Bel Canto
Author
Ann Patchett
Rating ****1/2
Tags bookclub, fiction, terrorists, hostages, music

Ann Patchett's novel Bel Canto is about a party in a generic South American country which is taken hostage by terrorists. The party was international, given in honor of a Japanese industrialist in hopes he would invest. To attract him to the party, his favorite opera singer is invited. The party was hosted by the Vice President, and the President, the target of the terrorists, didn't bother to come to the party.. The terrorists, losing their main objective, are lost as to how to end the crisis. The book is the story of the months of captivity in the house, and the characters of the people caught up in the problem.

While the book didn't seem stirring during reading, it stayed in the mind. It led me to imagine the later life of the characters, and to remember their fate as if it happened to someone I knew. Excellent and recommended.

Publication Fourth Estate (2002), Paperback, 336 pages
Publication date 2002
ISBN 1841155837 / 9781841155838