Our book group meets on the last Wednesday of the month at 1pm. This month’s title is “Bel Canto” by Ann Patchet.
In an unnamed South American country, a birthday party is being held for Japanese businessman, Mr. Hosokawa, in the hopes that he will bring business to this poor country. The only way he could be lured to this country was to see Roxane Coss, a famous opera singer revered by Hosokawa. The international party party is taking place at the home of the country’s Vice-President, Ruben Iglesias. But after Roxane has finished singing, the party is interrupted by a terrorist group who plan to take the President hostage so they can get others in their group released from prison. The only problem…the President decided not to attend the party so he could watch his favorite soap opera. The terrorists now don’t have the leverage they need but they can’t just free the hostages, so the women are let go except for the famous opera star and the remaining hostages and terrorists spend months waiting for demands to be met. But relationships develop between captors and their prisoners, despite circumstances and the language barriers of the guests from around the world. The one thing that seems to bring them together is their love of Roxane and the beautiful music she provides until their time together must inevitably end.
