Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

I was so excited to be back with Patchett’s stellar writing after my crash and burn experience with Tom Lake. (Please hold onto your gasps.) And I was not disappointed.

In an unnamed South American country, an extravagant birthday party unfolds at the home of the vice president, celebrating an influential Japanese businessman. Roxane Coss, the world’s most celebrated soprano, has been invited to perform for the vast array of powerful international guests. However, the serene atmosphere spirals into disarray when armed terrorists infiltrate the party, hoping to kidnap the president. With the president absent, the terrorists hold the partygoers hostage, hoping to negotiate their demands.

Based on a real-life incident in Peru during the winter of 1996/97, Patchett delivers her trademark fantastic characters, rich with a diverse range of depth and complexity within a balanced narrative. Drawing inspiration from the incident, Patchett overlaid a situation that frees up space for her characters to shine. Through a third-person narrator, she masterfully navigates the various vignettes and milieus, moving around the tension-filled house.

While the ending felt a bit rushed, it remained true to the underlying plot points and themes, so I don’t fault it there. The only thing that really didn’t work for me was the epilogue, strangely disconnected, somewhat muddying the drama it followed.

But I found the heart of Bel Canto in its exploration of human adaptability, intricately woven throughout the novel. As creatures of change and prisoners to time, we are bound to navigate our ever-changing landscape, adapting and progressing in the face of adversity. Patchett skillfully illustrates this human resilience, not only through her characters' actions, but also through the tapestry of languages spoken and the operatic music sung in the book. As her characters move beyond their roles, Patchett cracks the façade of the terrorists and softens the steely compliance of the hostages, shifting the dynamics in the most human of ways.

Audiobook, as narrated by Anna Fields: Fields did a phenomenal job of handling the narration for Bel Canto. Not only was her reading voice sublime, but she found a way to project the feeling of both moving inside the story and weaving in and around it, delivering adynamic performance.