Bel canto

winner of the women's prize for fiction and the pen/faulkner award for fiction. the poignant - and at times very funny - novel from the internationally bestselling author of the dutch house and commonwealth. somewhere in south america, at the home of the country's vice president, a lavish birthday party is being held in honour of the powerful businessman mr. hosokawa. roxane coss, opera's most revered soprano, has mesmerised 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.