Books
by Ann Patchett
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Bel Canto |
In an impoverished South American country, terrorists, intent on kidnapping their country's president, storm an international gathering. He however has stayed at home to watch his favourite soap so the unlucky guests are taken hostage. They include an American opera diva, a Japanese tycoon and his interpreter. Security forces surround the house, days stretch into weeks then months, bonds and friendships form lulling hostages and captors into a dreamlike state which they never want to end. *winner of this year's Orange prize
(Jenny Baker - bwl 14 July 2002) |
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Bel Canto |
In a small Latin American country, a beautiful opera diva is entertaining political leaders and prominent businessmen at a lavish party reluctantly hosted by the Vice-President. Suddenly, they are plunged into darkness and taken prisoner by terrorists. There follows an absorbing story of a disparate group of captors and hostages, whose only common language is music. How they relate to each other and adapt to the deprivations of confinement is described with sensitivity and humour.
(Jenny Freeman - bwl 43 December 2007) |
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Commonwealth |
An absorbing novel about the complications of families linked through divorce. Life is messy. Events can lead to tragedy and memories lie hidden. Patchett follows the lives of the various 'siblings', going to and fro in time. Through one of them, Franny, she can also question what happens when real life is exploited in fiction because Franny reveals all to her lover, a novelist. Written with great empathy, understanding and some humour.
(Christine Miller - bwl 85 Spring 2017) |
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State of Wonder |
A pharmaceutical company in Minnesota is funding an eccentric doctor whose research in the Amazon jungle will change women's lives for ever. A letter arrives informing them that an employee, sent to monitor the progress of the centre, has died. His colleague, Marina, determines to find out what happened. So begins a modern-day Heart of Darkness as she enters a secretive world of strange loyalties, mosquito-infected waterways and remote tribes. Dark, atmospheric, and engrossing.
(Jenny Baker - bwl 64 Spring 2012) |
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State of Wonder |
Patchett never disappoints. This is the story of a scientist who goes to the Amazon to investigate the mysterious death of a colleague who had been sent to find out what was happening with a research project into drugs which could change female fertility. It brings the wonders and dangers of the rainforest to life, as well as the tribes who live there, and we follow the scientist's own journey as in solving the mystery she gets sucked into the research project. A great read.
(Annie Noble - bwl 98 Autumn 2020) |
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The Dutch House |
Although their mother has left, Danny the narrator and his sister Maeve grow up happily in a magical house in small-town Pennsylvania until one day their father brings home their future stepmother. Banished from the house they love, it will haunt them all their lives, just as it will take a life-time for Danny to begin to understand and possibly forgive. A poignant, evocative read.
(Jenny Baker - bwl 95 Winter 2020) |
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Tom Lake |
It's cherry picking time in the middle of the pandemic and Lara's three grown daughters have returned to the family orchard. They beg her to tell them the story they've always longed to hear of how she once acted and fell in love with a not yet famous film star. As she remembers so Lara reflects on the difference between her adolescent dreams and the life she now leads. Would she change anything? Read and find out! Another Patchett gem.
(Jenny Baker - bwl 112 Spring 2024) |
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