A group of dignitaries are assembled at the home of the Vice President of a South American country to listen to a famous soprano in the honor of a Japanese businessman. The group is taken hostage an are held by guerillas who have unreasonable demands. As the weeks go by the hostages fall into a comfortable familiarity with their captors. Mr. Hosokawa falls in love with Roxane Coss, the soprano, and Gen, the translator, falls in love with Carmen, one of the young terrorists. When they are finally released, their lives will change dramatically.

They are finally released in a violent way that kills too many of the hostages and the young terrorists who we have come to care about. A violent end was inevitable, but I wish she hadn't had so many killed. Also, it makes no sense that Roxane and Gen would marry. There's no foreshadowing that would make that plausible.

This is a beautifully written book that is a reimagining of the 1996 Peruvian Maoist capture of a party in the capital at the Japanese ambassador's house. In the novel, the setting and guests are somewhat different but now the author can consider the dynamics between the set of cultivated upper crust and the generally untutored rural Maoist captors. At the center of the novel is a world famous opera singer and the Japanese guest of honor who's birthday is being celebrated along with his very able translator. Stage by stage the different characters (hostages and captors alike) find within themselves elements that they never knew. And although realizing that all things will come to an end, a livable, and in some cases, quite enjoyable environment is created. The language matches the singing which matches the mood of a gentle love story bookended by violent ends.

Highly entertaining story about the personal relationships that form during a hostage situation. Poignant, funny, enthralling, and absurd. I recommend to anyone in search of a well written piece of modern fiction.

This novel was spellbinding: a literary masterpiece, a suspense-filled thriller, and a tender romance. I highly recommend it.

An absolutely gorgeous novel. The language alone makes this worth the read, but the intricate plot involving multiple cultures, music and relationships, all mixing in the forced setting of a hostage situation, is fascinating.

I checked this out for a writing group I'm in. Never finished it. I thought it was boring.

Incredibly, a novel grounded in languages and opera, where one of the heroes is the translator. With the slow burn of the story line, Patchett reinforces how much our life expectancy is absolutely grounded in where and when we were born.

I recommend this book. When you finish it, you may be thinking about it for days (in a thoughtful musing sort of way) and will be in good company.

A wonderful book and well-crafted novel. Brilliant how Patchett uses how small singular events to build momentum toward the mutual discovery of the humanity beneath the circumstance. Highly recommended.

I really enjoyed reading this book many years ago. I also enjoyed seeing the film recently at the Bytowne Cinema.