A special birthday celebration was held for Mr. Hosokawa, a rich business man. He had been flown to an unnamed South American country, from Japan, to experience the singing of Roxanne Coss, his favourite Opera singer. The leaders hoped that his company would invest in their country. Dignitaries from across the world, speaking many languages were devastated when they were taken hostage by a group of terrorists who abruptly descend upon the party through the air conditioning vents, taking control of home of the Vice President.
The terrorist group had expected take the president hostage but their plans were thwarted when he stayed home to watch his favourite program. As the hostages adapted to their capture, they learned about their captors and understood themselves and the mistakes they were making in their everyday life and they resolved to make changes if they were freed. Terrorists realized that there was another way of life and discovered opportunities that they had never considered.
This is a great book and would be fantastic for a book club discussion. As I was reading, I had a strong feeling how the book would end (sorry, not spoilers here) but found myself hoping that I was wrong. I loved learning more about the characters, understanding how a few key terrorists were recruited and thinking about how things could be different.
I am thankful that it was gifted to me by Alan, a member of the CanadianContent Goodreads group. It was a great book and one that I will recommend. I had previously enjoyed State of Wonder, Commonwealth and was in the midst of listening to This is the non-fiction book, This is the Story of a Happy Marriage (which so far was a collection of essays about her experience writing) when my time ran out… I am waiting to finish it as I was disappointed to find out that there were 5 people ahead of me waiting to check it out.
Ann Patchett is not only the author of 7 novels and 3 works of non-fiction but also runs a bookstore in Nashville, Tennessee. Her website states that she is known as a “spokesperson for independent booksellers, championing books” and I am looking forward to reading more of her work.
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