People of the Book - Geraldine Brooks

People of the Book

By Geraldine Brooks

  • Release Date: 2008-01-01
  • Genre: Literary Fiction
Score: 4.5
4.5
From 765 Ratings

Description

View our feature on Geraldine Books’s People of the Book.
From the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of March, the journey of a rare illuminated manuscript through centuries of exile and war

In 1996, Hanna Heath, an Australian rare-book expert, is offered the job of a lifetime: analysis and conservation of the famed Sarajevo Haggadah, which has been rescued from Serb shelling during the Bosnian war. Priceless and beautiful, the book is one of the earliest Jewish volumes ever to be illuminated with images. When Hanna, a caustic loner with a passion for her work, discovers a series of tiny artifacts in its ancient binding—an insect wing fragment, wine stains, salt crystals, a white hair—she begins to unlock the book’s mysteries. The reader is ushered into an exquisitely detailed and atmospheric past, tracing the book’s journey from its salvation back to its creation.

In Bosnia during World War II, a Muslim risks his life to protect it from the Nazis. In the hedonistic salons of fin-de-siècle Vienna, the book becomes a pawn in the struggle against the city’s rising anti-Semitism. In inquisition-era Venice, a Catholic priest saves it from burning. In Barcelona in 1492, the scribe who wrote the text sees his family destroyed by the agonies of enforced exile. And in Seville in 1480, the reason for the Haggadah’s extraordinary illuminations is finally disclosed. Hanna’s investigation unexpectedly plunges her into the intrigues of fine art forgers and ultra-nationalist fanatics. Her experiences will test her belief in herself and the man she has come to love.

Inspired by a true story, People of the Book is at once a novel of sweeping historical grandeur and intimate emotional intensity, an ambitious, electrifying work by an acclaimed and beloved author.

Reviews

  • Brooks is a master story teller and a brilliant author!

    5
    By AWGOHF
    In our current time of ethnic and religious bigotry, this book tells the story of good human beings of all different cultures and faith doing the right thing. What’s wonderful about this book, it traces these good deeds from generation to generation to save an important manuscript. Maybe good will continue to beat evil. We can only hope.
  • Loved this book

    5
    By warriorfaerie
    Intriguing story telling about the history of a book and the families who owned it and ones who protected it- I could not put it down! Great book for evening discussions about history- cultures and the humanness of us all.
  • People of the Book

    5
    By Roclans
    Excellent read!
  • Fascinating

    5
    By R2bbarnes
    So much to keep your mind occupied
  • People of the book

    5
    By theadora25
    Excellent!
  • People of the book

    5
    By Lapskunk
    This was an amazing read from start to finish. A completely believable journey through history long past, and history not so distant. I grabbed the book on a whim, after hearing a public radio show about a musical piece inspired by either this book, or the Sarajevo Haggadah itself.(I don't remember which). If you, like me, enjoy historical novels that mix a bit of fact in with well thought out fiction, this book will keep you interested and entertained, while testing your self discipline to not turn to the afterword to see what was really fact/fiction. The subplot of Hanna's personal life and family history played an important role for me, as it gave me an entirely different puzzle to think about, while also providing an "interesting something", maybe a respite from the heaviness of the main narrative here and there. Again, a great read that left me feeling happy that I lucked into it!
  • People of the Book

    4
    By Red Licorice
    While this book might not be everyone's "cup of tea" it is an interesting, superbly written novel. The characters are richly drawn and the variety of settings transport the reader to other parts of our world in a believable manner. Engrossingly good read.
  • Awful narration

    3
    By berkeleygsi
    This is a serviceable, if melodramatic and overwrought, imagining of the stories behind the creation and survival of the Sarajevo Haggadah. Unfortunately the tales are all but ruined by the book's poor narration; specifically the narrator's insistence on having the characters speak in accents that she can't pull off. Spanish, Venetian, Bosnian, and Austrian characters all speak in the same dire Transilvanian accent. Read the book instead.
  • A great weave

    5
    By Sachimoto
    Although I wasn't drawn in right away it quickly became one of those "wow" books. It was just really well done. The way the author was able to go between the main narrator/character to the "real" stories of how the book came to be, was fantastic. At first I thought it was taking the easy way out by going back in time and highlighting different characters, but it really made for a dynamic and well done woven tale. I highly recommend this book!
  • Awesome!!!!!!

    5
    By TwinMama2008
    Intriguing, informative, emotional, witty. Loved it!

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