在南美一個不知名的國度，深夜的副總統官邸人聲鼎沸，來自世界各地的權貴顯要，正為日本鉅商細川克實的生日宴會齊聚一堂。令人矚目的是，全球極負盛名的女高音蘿珊‧寇思，也應邀蒞臨獻唱。這是個極其完美的夜晚─—直到一群武裝恐怖份子從冷氣通風管侵入，將所有與會人士挾持為人質為止。
一幕幕令人驚惶、恐懼的場景，在蘿珊要求將樂譜送進官邸之後，開始出現了細微的變化。蘿珊那令人渴望親吻的歌喉躍出如夢似幻的音符，悄悄喚醒了不可泯滅的人性與愛情的偉大力量，讓每一個人忘卻了自己仍身處在一經啟動便已無法扼止的險境，淪為她美聲的俘虜……The poignant -- and at times very funny -- novel from the author of ’The Magician’s Assistant’, winner of the Orange Prize, repackaged and promoted as part of Perennial’s fiction promotion in 2008. Latin terrorists storm an international gathering hosted by an underprivileged country to promote foreign interest and trade, only to find that their intended target, the President, has stayed home to watch his favourite soap opera on TV. Among the hostages are a world-class opera singer and her biggest fan, a Japanese tycoon who has been persuaded to attend the party on the understanding that she will perform half a dozen arias after dinner. The tycoon’s engaging and sympathetic translator plays a vital role in the subsequent relationships between so many different nationalities closeted together, interpreting not only the terrorists’ negotiations but also the language of love between lovers who cannot understand what the other is saying. Ultimately, it is the terrorist strike that does more to promote foreign relations than anyone could have hoped to achieve with the party.
