Are you of fan of historical fiction? Contemporary fiction? How about mystery novels? Perhaps romance?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, People of the Book is the book for you! Written by Australian journalist Geraldine Brooks (whose debut novel Year of Wonders won the Pulitzer Prize), the story revolves around a real book – small, rare, and very old - known as the Sarajevo Haggadah. This beautifully illuminated Jewish manuscript, created in Spain during the middle Ages, but last surfacing in Yugoslavia after the 1992 siege, is remarkable for having survived centuries of travel.
Brooks spins her story in two directions. In the present, Hannah, a rare book expert, is called to Sarajevo to meticulously take apart and examine the book under tight U.N. security. What she discovers (a white hair, an insect wing, a drop of salt, and a wine stain) becomes the turn-key for sojourns into the past. Moving backward through time, Brooks transports us to various points in the book’s history where we learn crucial details about its journey and origin. Each of these flashbacks is an engrossing story in itself – filled with memorable characters and vivid historical events. The ending is action-packed, but I won’t give anything away here. Just know that, even today, the Sarajevo Haggadah may not be safe! --Jenny
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment