Somewhere in South America, at the home of the country’s vice president, a lavish birthday party is being held in honor of a powerful Japanese businessman. A famous American opera diva entertains the international guests. It is a night out of a fairytale — until a band of gun-wielding terrorists breaks in through the air-conditioning vents and takes the entire party hostage.

But what begins as a panicked, life-threatening scenario turns into something quite different, as terrorists and hostages forge unexpected bonds, people from different countries and continents become compatriots, and passionate, ill-fated love blooms upon this unlikely soil.

Ann Patchett is the author of three previous novels, The Patron Saint of Liars, which was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year; Taft, which won the Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize, and The Magician’s Assistant. She has written for many publications including the New York Times Magazine, Village Voice, GQ, Paris Review, and Vogue. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee.