Product Description
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.
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Amazon.com Review
Amazon Best of the Month, January 2008: One of the earliest Jewish religious volumes to be illuminated with images, the Sarajevo Haggadah survived centuries of purges and wars thanks to people of all faiths who risked their lives to safeguard it. Geraldine Brooks, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of March, has turned the intriguing but sparely detailed history of this precious volume into an emotionally rich, thrilling fictionalization that retraces its turbulent journey. In the hands of Hanna Heath, an impassioned rare-book expert restoring the manuscript in 1996 Sarajevo, it yields clues to its guardians and whereabouts: an insect wing, a wine stain, salt crystals, and a white hair. While readers experience crucial moments in the book's history through a series of fascinating, fleshed-out short stories, Hanna pursues its secrets scientifically, and finds that some interests will still risk everything in the name of protecting this treasure. A complex love story, thrilling mystery, vivid history lesson, and celebration of the enduring power of ideas, People of the Book will surely be hailed as one of the best of 2008. --Mari Malcolm 
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 A brillant and memorable book
I'm not one to rave much about books on ancient history, but Geraldine Brooks' "People of the Book" is a vastly impressive work like the threads in a finely woven tapestry. One not only learns much about early Jewish history, as recorded over the centuries in a haggadah, a type of living religious text, but Brooks' deftness transitions from the present day book restorer and her life to that of the ancients who wrote the text. The ending is, in itself, stunning, not only for its realism but for the way Brooks brings all the threads together in one final, mighty stitch.
Not as fast paced as that other historical fiction (The DaVinci Code), but this is not a thriller. It's a thinker and a wonderful one at that.
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a most worthwile book to read ( isadorbooks2 )
a fine book in all areas. would apeal to both men and women. a most compelling story.
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A wonderful story ( baysea )
Book and manuscript conservator, Dr.Hanna Heath is brought to Sarajevo, after the Bosnian war, to examine what the authorities hope will be a huge find..a Haggadar or ancient Hebrew manuscript, written in the early 15th century. Hanna discovers some unusual tiny clues while examing the book such as a fine white hair, an insects wing, a supposed wine stain and salt crystals, all in a minute quantity and virtually invisible except to the trained eye. The most unusual feature about the manuscript is that it contains the most beautiful illustrations done in gold, silver and lapis lazuli and that, never before, has a Hebrew book contained illustrations, which are forbidden in that religion. The story is mainly that of the history of the book from its conception and through religious pogroms where this wonderful book is protected by people of all religions who value it for its beauty and in spite of fanatics who would destroy it. It's a wonderful journey through the centuries with wars, loves and conflicts of all kinds including sheer avarice and is a superb read for lovers of art and history.
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The People of the Book ( sararush )
What secrets lie in the pages of a sixty million dollar 500 year old book? Geraldine Brooks tells the story of the real Sarajevo Haddagah in her latest novel, People of the Book. Through CSI-style technical research during the book restoration process, clues to the books orgins, owner's and secrets spill out over centuries. No topic is off limits, as Brooks humanizes some of histories great intolerant atrocities. One comes to expect an informative read from this particular author, but I was absolutely blown away by this book. This book was a thoroughly enjoyable read. The deft structuring of the novel consumed me from page one--and had me sneaking in short readings wherever and whenever I could. I'm highly recommending it as one of the best I've read this year (so far).
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 Interesting way to develop a look at Jewish history
Wrapped in story about the history of a Jewish book of great historical interest, the People of the Book reveals a colorful history of the Jewish people in all of their struggles throught Europe and the Middle East for the centuries of the books life.
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