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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.

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 Publishers Drama & Plays Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction World Literature Heartfelt Romance

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)
All stars
Most relevant  
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.

Loved it.

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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.

Devastatingly beautiful.

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I love Ann Patchett’s but I found this one a little bit tedious which is actually the basis for the whole storyline. I thought it was beautifully written but I also couldn’t wait for it to end. The narrator did a wonderful job and made each character come alive. I’m in two minds about this book, I can see why most people love it but I just didn’t.

Unexpected storyline

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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!

Great book

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An darkly funny and moving story narrated beautifully. Keen to read more by this author.

so good

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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

Narrator killed it (& not in a good way)

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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.

A wonderful human story

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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.

Bel Canto

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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.

A Wonderful Listen

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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.

Spellbinding

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