People of the Book: A Novel

I think the mark of a good book is that when you finish reading it, you can't get it out of your mind. The People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks definitely is a good book, and more. It's a haunting, mesmerizing and beautifully written story about the Sarajevo Haggadah. A haggadah is a book of Jewish rites and the Sarajevo Haggadah was written in Spain before the exile of Jews from there in 1492. One of the things that makes this particular haggadah so unique is that it is richly illustrated, which was against Jewish beliefs of the time. Also, the fact that it survived at all is no small miracle. It is known that the haggadah went from Spain to Venice, and then to Vienna before landing in Sarajevo. Twice, it was rescued by Muslim librarians--once during World War II and again during the Bosnian War. Brooks fills in the gaps with an incredible tale that combines historical fact, customs of the day, and her moving fictional characters. People of the Book opens in 1996 when Australian rare book conservator, Dr. Hanna Heath, is tapped by the UN to conserve and restore the famous Haggadah. The things she discovers (an insect wing, a salt stain, a red blotch, a priest's signature, and a hair fragment) will allow Brooks to travel back in history to relate the story of how they came about. Throughout history, the book survives as a witness to the "Inquisition, Nazis, extremist Serb nationalists." Heath is also forced to evaluate and restore her personal life, as she assess the things that are truly important to her and then makes choices that support these values. The combination of Heath's professional and personal revelations provides us with a surprising and heart-warming ending. I especially enjoyed the history associated with People of the Book. I didn't realize how many times in history, Christians, Jews and Muslims lived in relative peace. When Spain expelled the Jews, Venice and Bosnia gave them a home. The Sarajevo Haggadah is a book that transcends all three religions. The Muslim librarian who saved the book during the Bosnian War tells Heath "the haggadah came to Sarajevo for a reason. It was here to test us, to see if there were people who could see that what united us was more than what divides us. That to be a human being matters more than to be a Jew or a Muslim, Catholic or Orthodox." I became a big fan of Geraldine Brooks when I first read Year of Wonders, and then March. Now, People of the Book just reaffirms Brooks' talents as a writer of historic fiction.

Geraldine Brooks creates a book about the mystery of history in her novel, 'People of The Book.' The public is used to the Jews being called the people of the book in relation to the Bible. It is about the Jews, but with a twist, adding Christians and Muslims and showing the interdependency of all three throughout history. Two main stories entertwine in this historical adventure story, that of the Sarajevo Haggadah and of its restorer, Hannah. As Hannah sets about restoring the 500-year-old Hagganah, and bits of its past come to light, so does her own opaque past. As she restores, she is restored. A Haggadah is the story of the Passover given at the Seder, the Jewish supper commemorating the great story of the Jewish escape from Egypt under the leadership of Moses.This small, lavishly-illuminated Haggadah was manufactured in Spain 500 years before, rebound in Vienna, Austria in 1894, and has travelled to Sarajevo, survived the 2nd World War destruction of the Nazis of Jews and all things Jewish, and the more recent destructive war between the Bosnians and the Serbs. In 1992, the book was hidden, when museums and libraries became targets in the war. It is now 1996 and it is considered safe enough as hostilities die down, to bring the book out of hiding. Brooks talks about an actual book restored to Sarajevo, and her fiction takes over from there. The Australian-born Hannah is by profession a book conservator of mediaeval manuscripts. Hannah says her job is technical combining science and craftsmanship. But she also has an intuition about the past. She links research and imagination to see into the heads of people who created these great, mediaeval masterpieces, so that she can figure out who they were and how they worked. The Journey of The Book There is a bill of sale to the Sarajevo library in 1894, when a 'Kohen' sold the book to the library. During the 2nd World War, the book was saved and hidden by a Muslim. From 1992 to 1996, it was hidden by a Muslim, the director of the library. Hannah finds a wine stain on a page, a fine white hair in a thread fibre, and a tiny wing of some insect in the binding. She also notices that the book has been made to outfit clasps, used to keep parchment flat, and they are missing. With these few clues and facts about these miniscule objects from the world of science, she embarks on a plausible but imaginative journey about the history of the book. The story takes the reader to Spain, Vienna, and Sarajevo, as the history of the Jews is revealed and their interdependence with the Christians and Muslims is explored. It becomes clear that without that interaction the book couldn't have been created at all. Its history is entertwined with all three religious groups, as is Sarajevo, where a mosque, a synagogue and an Orthodox church all face one another in the same square, in a place where religious tolerance has created the unique Sarajevan society. Hannah's Journey Woven throughout this historical discovery are Hannah's discoveries about her unknown past. As the Haggadah's past is revealed, so is her own. She is the daughter of a neurosurgeon and a father who totally unknown to her. Her mother is a brilliant, cold, calculating, vain, selfish woman who has rejected her daughter because Hannah did not become a neurosurgeon like herself. She has nothing but contempt for her daughter's chosen field and lets her daughter know this on a regular basis. Hannah finds the courage to reject her mother only when, ironically through the mother, she discovers her past, her father's identity and a warm, loving family who accept her and appreciate her as she is. It is also ironic that the cold relationship between mother and daughter exists when they are both restorers in their own right, Hannah of mediaeval manuscripts and her mother, of the engine of the body. Many a woman will recognize this irreconcilable relationship between mother and daughter and read certain passages of scenes between them with tears in her eyes. Once Hannah is over her fear of rejection, and is being healed both through her work and the warmth of her new, true family, she discovers love, a love which has been there for some time, actually, but which took her some time to recognize.As the life of the Haggadah awaited discovery, so did this love of her life patiently await. This is a satisfying novel in that the ending is not a 'happily ever after' event, but one that is full of potential. The Haggadah has been restored and returned to its rightful home. And so has Hannah. This is not a book meant to be kept on a dusty shelf. It is one, like the Haggadah, meant to be shared. If you loan it and it doesn't come back, you'll feel serene, knowing it has begun its own historical journey.

Well researched and written. Raises important questions for a book club to discuss. Great dynamics between characters and her sense of humor is fun.

This novel drew me in from the beginning. I knew almost nothing about Jewish rites, didn't know what a haggadah was, or had heard of this specific codex before reading this book. It was very enlightening to learn so many new things with every chapter. I was also very moved learning more about the plight and mistreatment of Jewish people in so many places and in different eras. Definitely worth reading!

Excelente libro!

Geraldine Brooks has given us a well-written, highly compelling, complex and enthralling story. Who would think a novel about a book - albeit a rare and special book - could be so exciting? But Geraldine Brooks takes the reader, page by page, leaf by leaf, into the world of rare books and their conservation, the background and possible history of such a book, and on a fascinating, multi-cultural, and labyrinthine journey through the tangles of history, from the Bosnian war in Sarajevo to the Jewish artisans of Andalusia at the time of the Spanish Inquisition, via Vienna in the 19th century and Venice in the 16th, each period highlighted with vivid and resonant characters and scene-setting. The time-travelling is interspersed with the present-day, as the talented but slightly dysfunctional conservationist, Australian Hanna, discovers the secrets of this tantalising book, a 15th-century Jewish Haggadah, and the secret behind her own life. This novel is one of my all-time favourite books and every time I re-read it (on a 2 yearly basis); I always find new nuances of detail or delight in a particular character or setting. The author throws all her considerable knowledge, journalistic experience and technical expertise into this marvellous novel and I think it's her best. And it's all the better for the fact that there really was such a rare book and this could be its story.

Very impressive.

anyone who loves book and wishes to understand history and humanity. I am so grateful I found it in the list of the ABC’s best books of 2025 🙏

Was für ein wunderbares Buch! Im Jahr 1996 wird die verschollen geglaubte Haggadah von Sarajewo (ein religiöses Buch des Judentums) von einer australischen Wissenchaftlerin untersucht. Fast sechs Jahrhunderte haben ihre Spuren auf den Seiten hinterlassen - ein weißes Haar, ein Tropfen Salzwasser, Wein und Blut... - und jede davon erzählt eine eigene Geschichte. Faszinierend und brilliant geschrieben - hat mich schwer beeindruckt und wird mir sicher lange im Gedächtnis bleiben. Für jeden, der Bücher liebt oder an Geschichte interessiert ist. Eines der besten Bücher, die ich in den letzten Monaten gelesen habe. Unbedingt empfehlenswert!