Bel Canto
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Bel Canto
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Narrated by:
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Anna Fields
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By:
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Ann Patchett
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.
Don't miss our free Ann Patchett interview. Patchett is an Audible CelebrityListener - find out what she's listening to here.©2001 Ann Patchett (P)2001 HarperCollins PublishersCritic 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)
What listeners say about Bel Canto
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 30-09-2024
Devastatingly beautiful.
Patchett uses an unexpected and confronting scenario to explore friendship and connection across seemingly insurmountable barriers. At every twist in the story I was moved by the violence and beauty. I have read other Ann Patchett novels that use a mechanism of giving a hint to the future that makes you think "How could they get there!?". Rather than it feeling like a spoiler, it is like being let in on a secret, that develops connection with the characters. Great read/listen, fast paced story with depth created through appreciation of culture, lanuage, and music.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 26-01-2023
Loved it.
Almost didn’t listen as didn’t like the intro by the narrator. But loved this book and it’s cast of characters and the plot development . Will read more from this author who I had heard of but never read /listen before.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 30-05-2022
Great book
This is the second book by Patchett that I’ve read and really enjoyed. She works through situations and characters so deftly and also with much humour. The book builds and builds. Don’t be fooled by a slightly slow start. It’s a great book!
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Lulu-in-NZ
- 27-10-2023
Narrator killed it (& not in a good way)
Beautifully written but really struggled with the narrator, couldn’t hold my attention with the lack of variety in voices and expression. Such a shame, I missed so much because of it
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 14-06-2025
so good
An darkly funny and moving story narrated beautifully. Keen to read more by this author.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Felicity
- 20-10-2018
A wonderful human story
This is a spell-binding book of great beauty and humanity. Definitely either read it or listen to it. I wasn't as in love with the epilogue as with the rest of the book, but so be it. I found the narrator's voice grating at first, but I grew to like it. Perhaps I was just wrapped up in the story. This is a story to make you fall in love with books all over again.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 13-05-2020
Bel Canto
I read this book years ago and wondered what it would be like to listen to. It was just as beautiful and just as tragic. This is a story that will stay with you. The relationships that develop between the hijackers and their captives are so believable and in the end make you ache with sadness.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Belinda
- 01-11-2023
A Wonderful Listen
I have been on an Ann Patchett run and this didn’t disappoint. Very surprised to see some negative reviews about the narration as I thought it was fabulous. Very much enjoyed it.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 15-01-2025
Spellbinding
I finished this book and took a while to get myself back into reality as I found it riveting. A story of friendship and humanity in very different circumstances . It took me a short while to get into it but after a while the narrators voice and the storyline held me and compelled me to keep going. So much depth and emotion in the brilliant narrative. I can’t wait to read another of Ann’s books.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 12-02-2025
Wonderful characters, twists and turns.
I absolutely adored this book. The storyline is unique and mostly set inside the one house however, it’s never boring. The author takes you into various rooms and I just felt transported every time.
The characters were all so interesting and likeable, I often found myself smiling or laughing out loud as I would be driving or walking the dog and listening.
Brava to the narrator who absolutely smashed this performance out of the ball park. Her various accents were fantastic and the way she portrayed this beautiful story lifted it to its heights.
I totally recommend!
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