Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

Bel Canto is a multi-award-winning novel set in an un-named South American country. The characters in the novel are the people attending a party held in honor of the Japanese owner of an electronics company, Mr. Hosokowa. Mr. Hosokowa was lured to attend the party by promised presence (and performance by) the presence of opera diva Roxane Coss. In addition to Mr. Hosokowa and Roxane Coss, the characters in the novel include the un-named country's Vice President, a multi-national group of party guests, Mr. Hosokowa's multi-lingual translator and assistant, and a group of terrorists who have entered the Vice-President's house stealthily to take the President of the un-named country hostage.

Unfortunately, the President skipped out on the party (because his favorite soap opera was at a climactic point on the evening of the party), so the terrorists decide to take the guests hostage instead. On the second day of the hostage-taking, all of the female guests are released, except Roxane Coss. Some men are allowed to leave as well (the laborers among the household and party staff, and the infirm and the priests among the guests.)

The remainder of the novel tells the story of the relationships that develop among the guests and hostages for the more than two months that the hostage situation endures. The characters are well-evoked, and the situations described are both outrageous and natural. The denouement is both inevitable and somewhat of a let-down--and also pretty much perfect.