Bel Canto : A Novel
Author(s): Ann Patchett
NYT Bestseller
A major motion picture starring Julianne Moore and Ken Watanabe.
“Blissfully romantic….A strange, terrific, spellcasting story.” — San Francisco Chronicle
“Bel Canto…should be on the list of every literate music lover. The story is riveting, the participants breathe and feel and are alive, and throughout this elegantly-told novel, music pours forth so splendidly that the reader hears it and is overwhelmed by its beauty.” —Lloyd Moss, WXQR
Ann Patchett’s award winning Bel Canto balances themes of love and crisis as disparate characters learn that music is their only common language. As in Patchett’s other novels, including Truth & Beauty and The Magician’s Assistant, the author’s lyrical prose and lucid imagination make Bel Canto a captivating story of strength and frailty, love and imprisonment, and an inspiring tale of transcendent romance.
Review(s):
“Patchett’s tragicomic novel—a fantasia of guns and Puccini and Red Cross negotiations—invokes the glorious, unreliable promises of art, politics, and love.”
“Elegantly alluring. . . . A novel that begins with a kiss and absolutely deserves one.”
“One approaches the final pages with a heavy heart for several reasons, not the least of which being that this fine read has come to an end.”
“Bel Canto has all the qualities one has come to expect from a classic Ann Patchett novel: grace, beauty, elegance, and magic.”
“Patchett’s ability to evoke sense of place. . .is near magical in itself.”
“A novel that showcases [Patchett's] profound understanding of the heart.”
“This fluid and assured narrative, inspired by a real incident, demonstrates her growing maturity and mastery of form as she artfully integrates a musical theme within a dramatic story.”
"Bel Canto by Ann Patchett should be on the list of every literate music lover. The story is riveting, the participants breathe and feel and are alive, and throughout this elegantly-told novel, music pours forth so splendidly that the reader hears it and is overwhelmed by its beauty. Ann Patchett is a special writer who has written a special book."
“The most romantic novel in years. A strange, terrific, spellcasting story.”
"Bel Canto invites readers to explore new and unfamiliar territory, to take some emotional risks rather than stand with Rolland among those 'already saved.'"
IMPAC Dublin Literary Award Finalist, PEN/Faulkner Award, National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist, Southeast Booksellers Assn. -- fiction Finalist
ISBN: 9780060188733