Bel Canto cover art

Bel Canto

Preview

Try Premium Plus free
1 credit a month to buy any audiobook in our entire collection.
Access to thousands of additional audiobooks and Originals from the Plus Catalogue.
Member-only deals & discounts.
Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Bel Canto

By: Ann Patchett
Narrated by: Anna Fields
Try Premium Plus free

$16.45 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $26.99

Buy Now for $26.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using voucher balance (if applicable) then card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions Of Use and Privacy Notice and authorise Audible to charge your designated credit card or another available credit card on file.
Cancel

About this listen

“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)

“Glorious.” (The New Yorker)

Ann Patchett’s award winning, New York Times best-selling Bel Canto balances themes of love and crisis as disparate characters learn that music is their only common language. As in Pratchett’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.

Don't miss our free Ann Patchett interview. Patchett is an Audible CelebrityListener - find out what she's listening to here.©2001 Ann Patchett (P)2001 HarperCollins Publishers
Drama & Plays Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction World Literature Romance

Critic Reviews

  • 2002 Orange Prize for Fiction
  • Book Sense Book of the Year Award Winner, Paperback, 2003
  • PEN/Faulkner Award Winner, 2002

"Patchett can be counted on to deliver novels rich in imaginative bravado and psychological nuance. This fluid and assured narrative...demonstrates her growing maturity and mastery of form." (Publishers Weekly)
"Mixing art and politics can have unexpected results, but rarely are they so poignant....[Anna Fields'] performance is the essence of Bel Canto, easy, pure of tone, with an agile, precise vocal technique." (AudioFile)

What listeners say about Bel Canto

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    66
  • 4 Stars
    27
  • 3 Stars
    10
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    4
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    62
  • 4 Stars
    25
  • 3 Stars
    6
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    2
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    58
  • 4 Stars
    25
  • 3 Stars
    7
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    5

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Devastatingly beautiful.

Patchett uses an unexpected and confronting scenario to explore friendship and connection across seemingly insurmountable barriers. At every twist in the story I was moved by the violence and beauty. I have read other Ann Patchett novels that use a mechanism of giving a hint to the future that makes you think "How could they get there!?". Rather than it feeling like a spoiler, it is like being let in on a secret, that develops connection with the characters. Great read/listen, fast paced story with depth created through appreciation of culture, lanuage, and music.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Loved it.

Almost didn’t listen as didn’t like the intro by the narrator. But loved this book and it’s cast of characters and the plot development . Will read more from this author who I had heard of but never read /listen before.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A wonderful human story

This is a spell-binding book of great beauty and humanity. Definitely either read it or listen to it. I wasn't as in love with the epilogue as with the rest of the book, but so be it. I found the narrator's voice grating at first, but I grew to like it. Perhaps I was just wrapped up in the story. This is a story to make you fall in love with books all over again.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Bel Canto

I read this book years ago and wondered what it would be like to listen to. It was just as beautiful and just as tragic. This is a story that will stay with you. The relationships that develop between the hijackers and their captives are so believable and in the end make you ache with sadness.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A Wonderful Listen

I have been on an Ann Patchett run and this didn’t disappoint. Very surprised to see some negative reviews about the narration as I thought it was fabulous. Very much enjoyed it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Great book

This is the second book by Patchett that I’ve read and really enjoyed. She works through situations and characters so deftly and also with much humour. The book builds and builds. Don’t be fooled by a slightly slow start. It’s a great book!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Narrator killed it (& not in a good way)

Beautifully written but really struggled with the narrator, couldn’t hold my attention with the lack of variety in voices and expression. Such a shame, I missed so much because of it

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Beautiful story

This was not my usual genre but wow what a fabulous book. A rich story and read so beautifully.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

read this!

brilliant book read brilliantly by Anna Fields. I loved it. highly recommended! so so good.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Thoughtful

An interesting theme, albeit a bit contrived. A bunch of interesting characters, with plenty of insight into what makes them tick. but I wasn't sorry to get to the end.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.