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Bel Canto

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Bel Canto

By: Ann Patchett
Narrated by: Anna Fields
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About this listen

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

New York Times bestselling author 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.

©2001 Ann Patchett (P)2001 HarperCollins Publishers
Drama & Plays Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction World Literature Heartfelt Mind-bending Romance

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Critic reviews

  • 2002 Orange Prize for Fiction
  • Book Sense Book of the Year Award Winner, Paperback, 2003
  • PEN/Faulkner Award Winner, 2002

"Patchett can be counted on to deliver novels rich in imaginative bravado and psychological nuance. This fluid and assured narrative...demonstrates her growing maturity and mastery of form." (Publishers Weekly)
"Mixing art and politics can have unexpected results, but rarely are they so poignant....[Anna Fields'] performance is the essence of Bel Canto, easy, pure of tone, with an agile, precise vocal technique." (AudioFile)

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gripping and touching and beautifully written. compassionate view of life. the characters are totally believable and their relationships unusual

really page tuener

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I enjoyed this book. It is a tragic story, but it ends with hope. The narration was good.

A powerful story

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I first listened to Tom Lake, which I loved. Then The Dutch House. Ditto. So decided to go for a third. But this one, not so much. The issue could be that I could not identify with the love of opera. The narration was good, tackling all of the accents, although Meryl Streep was awe-inspiring narrating Tom Lake. Hard act to follow.

Prefer other titles by this author

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Didn’t want this book to end - beautiful writing, characters you care about and excellent sensitive narration
Loved it

Gorgeous story and writing

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This is the story of a hostage situation and what happens when the hostages and captors begin to see past their roles and appreciate each other as human beings. Beautifully written and narrated, the storyline was novel and unexpected. I really enjoyed it.

Unique story, beautifully narrated

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Very easy listening while at the same time well written. I really enjoyed this one - listened over the course of a weekend of covid and have to say it made the time fly by!

Really enjoyable listen!

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Somehow a very compelling read and wonderfully performed. Such a simple story but rich in observation of human behaviour.

A wonderfully written book

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I am sorry but I couldn’t wait for this book to be over. At first, I struggled through waiting for the story to pick up but it was getting more and more dull with every chapter. I now have 2 hours left to listen and I couldn’t care less how this book ends.

Very boring

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Beautiful story and very well read. Really a must listen with a great pace. it's an extrapolation of a true story that happened in the Japanese what in Lima.

Bel Canto

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beautifully written. a fabulous story. perfectly described. captivating idea beautifully crafted. every character ideally imagined. bravo another masterpiece

brilliant beguiling breathtaking

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