The Lyric Opera has turned this book by Ann Patchett into an opera and my dad have tickets to see it next month. I happened upon the book at my local library’s book fair this year and snagged it.
I’m really glad I did.
I had heard of Ann Patchett, but I had never read anything by her before. This book about an abduction gone wrong is excellent.
It starts with a dinner party held somewhere in South America in honor of a Japanese businessman who they hope will bring some of his business to the country. Patchett never gives the name of the country it takes place in. She always refers to it as “the host country.” She does say that it’s a small, poor country, that the main language is Spanish (but it’s not Spain), there’s a jungle and an indigenous tribe that speaks “Quechua”. That narrows it down to Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia. The description for the opera gives Peru as the location.
The “host country’s” president is supposed to throw the party, but he doesn’t want to miss his soap opera, so he declines at the last minute. The party is thrown at the Vice President’s house, which doesn’t belong to the Vice President at all, but to the country. He merely gets to live there during his term.
Towards the end of the party, the house is invaded by a group of terrorists looking to kidnap the president and use him for ransom. When they find out the president isn’t there, they’re not sure what to do. They have everyone lie down on the floor and they take everything that could be used as a weapon. The hostages spend the night like that and in the morning the women, children, and the sick are allowed to leave. The one woman they keep is the opera singer, Roxane Coss, who was paid an enormous sum to sing for the guest of honor. They keep her because they figure her singing can help keep everyone calm and I’m pretty sure it’s for this reason the Lyric decided it would make a great opera. I happen to agree with them and I’m super excited to see it!
Coss’s singing does indeed calm both the hostages and the terrorists. Her voice is described as flawless multiple times throughout the book and Patchett often waxes poetic on the universal power of music.
Because it’s an international dinner with guests from all around the world, most of the guests can’t speak to each other or the terrorists. Fortunately, the guest of honor brought his translator with him and he is quickly put to work translating for everyone.
The terrorists try to use the hostages to negotiate, but they’re not even sure what to negotiate for. Their terms get increasingly grand and vague as the stalemate drags on for weeks.
Since they’re all stuck in this house together, it doesn’t take long for the walls to drop. Many of the hostages make an effort to learn other languages in order to communicate with their fellow hostages and captors. New bonds are formed among the hostages, as well as between the hostages and captors as the lines slowly blur.
The Red Cross sends in food every day. Then they send in sheet music so Coss can practice. Pretty soon everyone starts thinking they can just live out the rest of their lives like this. Rationally, they know that that’s not realistic, but they all slowly stop thinking rationally.
I won’t give away the ending, but suffice to say it’s a beautifully written book about the bonds that form between people despite all odds. With the help of a little music.
What did you guys read this week? Anything that’s been adapted to another medium? What did you think? I want to hear all about it!
Photo credit: Scenic Design for Bel Canto by David Korins