Opera is a centralizing theme on many levels throughout the story; the operatic term bel canto literally means "beautiful singing."

As a not-so-subtle pretext to get Hosokawa to invest in the country, famous American soprano Roxane Coss is scheduled to perform as the highlight of the party.

Near the end of the party, members of a terrorist organization break into the house, intending to take the President of the country hostage.

In an epilogue that takes place some years later, former hostages Simon Thibault and his wife meet with Gen and Roxane, who are getting married in Italy.

Since attending a performance with his father as a child, opera has been his greatest love, and he is passionate about the soprano Roxane Coss, having heard her recordings.

He is gunned down in the final scenes by the soldiers of the host country, in his attempt to save the teenaged terrorist Carmen.

She is especially touched by her relationships with Mr. Hosokawa, with whom she falls in love; Gen, with whom she forms a strong bond and eventually marries; Carmen, who sleeps in her bed, braids her hair, and comforts her; and Cesar, another young terrorist with a gifted singing voice whom she begins tutoring.

After that, he joined the terrorist group La Familia de Martin Suarez, named after a ten-year-old boy who was shot dead while handing out flyers for a political rally.

The leader of the organization, General Benjamin, notices what a beautiful young woman she has become and notes that, "had she been this pretty before, he never would have let her sign up."

The original working title was How to Fall in Love with Opera, but her editor advised against it in case bookstores would mis-shelve it in their "how to" section.

[9] Sue MacGregor, the broadcaster and chairman of the Orange Prize judges, praised the work, saying, "This is a fine piece of writing, mixing tenderness and danger to an impressive degree.

"[3] Critic Alex Clark praised the wide range of Patchett's writing, which "encompass[es] both lightning flashes of brutality and terror and long stretches of incarcerated ennui.

"[10] Several reviews note a departure in style from Patchett's earlier works and credit Bel Canto for pushing her into the national spotlight.

[11][12] Critic James Polk largely praised the novel, but noted Patchett "strained a bit too hard" to highlight the terrorists' humanizing traits, which he argued "diminished the story's taut ambivalence, making some scenes near the end sound almost like accounts of a Boy Scout jamboree.

A film adaptation of the same name from director Paul Weitz with Julianne Moore and Ken Watanabe was released in 2018.