Winner of The Womens Prize for Fiction and the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction.

The poignant and at times very funny novel from the author of The Dutch House and Commonwealth. Somewhere in South America, at the home of the country's vice president, a lavish birthday party is being held in honour of the powerful businessman Mr. Hosokawa. Roxane Coss, opera's most revered soprano, has mesmerised the international guests with her singing. It is a perfect evening until a band of gun-wielding terrorists takes the entire party hostage.

But what begins as a panicked, life-threatening scenario slowly evolves into something quite different, a moment of great beauty, as terrorists and hostages forge unexpected bonds and people from different continents become compatriots, intimate friends, and lovers.

Format:Paperback / softback 336 pages

Publisher:HarperCollins Publishers

Imprint:Fourth Estate Ltd

ISBN:9781841155838

Published:30 Apr 2002

Classifications:Latin America, Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945), Political / legal thriller