Bel Canto

Anne Patchet’s Bel Canto utilizes an extreme hostage situation to explore newfound love, and evolving relationships. The novel revolves around the relationships between a group of South American terrorists and their international captives. The problem arises when the terrorists find their target, the president, to be missing from the party, leaving their mission unfulfilled. They raid a birthday celebration for Mr. Hosokawa, a Japanese business who holds an extreme passion for opera. His passion for opera was satisfied by the presence of Roxanne Coss, a renowned soprano from Chicago. Patchet showcases the ability of love to overcome obstacles in any circumstance, through the formation of relationships between star-crossed lovers. Bel Canto offers the reader both suspense and romance by revealing the power of love to exceed the fear of death.
I strongly recommend this novel to readers seeking both the excitement of a thriller and the compassion of romance. Patchet allows the reader to become involved in the development of various relationships and their significance. She reveals the resilience of the heart to provide love amidst extreme crisis. She turns a hostage situation into a dating scene without completely diminishing the presence of the terrorists.
One of the primary conflicts throughout Bel Canto is the inability of both the hostages and the terrorists to communicate since they share no common language. Patchet employs Gen Watanabe, Mr. Hosokawa’s translator, to overcome the language barrier and ease the tension between both parties. Gen becomes the hero of the novel by applying his talent for translation to restoring a sense of knowledge to involved persons. The reader comes to admire Gen for his outstanding performance as the mediator, and later how he uses his talent to benefit his love interest. Patchet does an amazing job of setting the stage for the emergence of protagonist, Gen, to stand out among the rest.
Not only does Bel Canto explore the relationships formed between hostages of different nationalities and no way of communicating, it delves deeper into relationships among opposing parties. Patchet creates an environment in which the secrecy of love can thrive. She forms a bond between two hostages of different nationalities to reveal that formal communication is unnecessary to fall in love. She also creates a love interest between a hostage and a terrorist to demonstrate the ability of love to see past reality, and focus on truth. The romantic style of Bel Canto provides a contrast to the terror of the hostage situation by accentuating the positive while concealing the negative. Patchet proves that love is not always safe, but it never fails to provide hope for the future.
I would definitely recommend reading Bel Canto if you enjoy being sucked in by passionate, heartfelt relationships, along with the thrill and uncertainty of suspense. This novel can reach out to anyone because it provides various types of bondage between to people, whether its love, friendship, common interest, or even mutual respect. Patchet allows the reader to make up his or her own mind regarding the morality of each character and his or her actions. I greatly enjoyed reading Bel Canto and it was definitely a page turner for me, so if romance and suspense are of any interest to you this is the perfect book to read!