Sophia C. reviewed on 10/18/2009 + 289 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

People of the Book is an apt title for this rich, intricate novel written by Pulitzer-prize winning Australian author Geraldine Brooks. Initially Australian rare book expert Hannah Heath provides a contemporary frame for multiple strands of historical narrative when she is commissioned to examine and restore the Sarajevo Haggadah after the Bosnian war. Famed as an extremely rare early Jewish text illuminated with images, the Haggadah yields clues to its past during Hannah's examination. Each specimen--a butterfly wing, a missing clasp, saltwater stains, wine mixed with blood, a delicate hair--launches a tale in reverse chronological order back into the book's past, following its geographical journey back to its creation in Convivencia Spain. Of course, only we readers are privileged to see Brooks sift each layer of the book's origins, as Hannah is left searching for clues and confronting her own past. Brooks creates distinct but interwoven backdrops for each setting, gracefully showing although there is much about the past which is lost, strands remain which connect us with it--and with each other. Ultimately Hannah becomes a 'person of the book' as she helps write the book's contemporary chapter. A beautifully written historical novel based loosely on a real artifact, People of the Book combines rich historical detail, book conservation art and science, and real emotions in flawed but likeable characters into a rare treat. The Red Violin starring Samuel L Jackson is a similarly structured and equally wonderful film.

Back to all reviews by this member
Back to all reviews of this book
Back to Book Reviews
Back to Book Details