People of the Book: A Novel
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- ISBN13: 9780670018215
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
From the Pulitzer Prize–winning leader of March, the journey of a rare illuminated manuscript through centuries of exile and war
In 1996, Hanna Heath, an Australian rare-book practiced, 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 gorgeous, 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 very ancient binding—an insect wing fragment, wine stains, salt crystals, a white hair—she starts 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 tree ruined by the agonies of enforced exile. And in Seville in 1480, the reason for the Haggadah’s extraordinary illuminations is finally told. 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 like.
Inspired by a right tale, People of the Book is at once a novel of sweeping past grandeur and intimate emotional intensity, an ambitious, electrifying work by an acclaimed and beloved leader.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 leader 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 practiced restoring the manuscript in 1996 Sarajevo, it yields clues to its guardians and position: 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 fleeting tales, Hanna pursues its secrets scientifically, and finds that some interests will still risk everything in the name of protecting this treasure. A complex like tale, thrilling mystery, plain history lesson, and celebration of the enduring power of thoughts, People of the Book will surely be hailed as one of the best of 2008. –Mari Malcolm
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I was an enthusiastic hardcover buyer of this book when it hit the shelves.
I got through the book to see how she resolved her “issues.”
Every depiction of her Jewish characters are full of negative Jewish stereotypes.
I am astonished her publishers didn’t see her book as the work of an anti-semitic rant. JUST HATEFUL!!!
This book reminded me why I prefer biographies!
Reader’s Rating: 1 / 5
I had never heard of this writer or the book, so I took a step in faith and bought the book. Geraldine Brooks did a fantastic job writing this book and following the Jewish book..This book is the CENTERIES OLD jEWISH BOOK OF RULES AND REVEARED IN jEWISH SOCIETY. tHE STORY GOES ALL OVER THE WORLD FOLLOWING THIS BOOK AND PEOPLE WHO HAD TOUCHED IT. iT COMES IN FOR REPAIR AND THE YOUNG GIRL DOES A WHOLE History OF ITS WHEREABOUTS AND PEOPLE. iT APPEARED TO MANY DIfFERENT DENOMINATIONS AND WAS A BIT RUFFLED WHEN THE YOUNG GIRL IN bOSTON GOT IT. iT WAS SAved MANY TIMES FROM EXTINTION FIRST FROM THE gERMAN SOLDIERS WHO WERE ORDERED TO BURN THE CONTENTS OF jEWISH LIBRARIES. wORTH READING AS IN THE END IT WAS A MYSTERY. sOMETIMES WORDY, BUT NEVERTHE LESS a GOOD READ.
Reader’s Rating: 3 / 5
I HEARD IT GOT GOOD REVIEWS.
CHARACTERS ARE TWO DIMENSIONAL AND NOT BELIEVABLE.
AFTER TRYING FOR 200 PAGES, I ASKED MYSELF WHY AND GAVE UP.
HAD POTENTIAL BUT KEPT LOOSING IT.
Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5
This book revolves around a rare book, the Sarajevo Haggadah. The leader takes for granted the reader knows the magnitude of this book and its meaning. No suspense or awe is built up and much is lost because of it’s not. There are several instances where the reader is alienated and additional things are taken for granted. Done in a different order and with it built up this might have been excellent. My interest waned quickly. In fact, I was downright bored. It’s far from a thrill ride.
Reader’s Rating: 2 / 5
Received the book in excellent faith and on time, but, didn’t have the time to read and/or review it.
Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5