Winner Of The Orange Prize And The Pen/Faulkner Award For Fiction. The Poignant – And At Times Very Funny – Novel From The Author Of State Of Wonder 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. Roxanne 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.