The People of the Book

The main voice of this book is an Australian art restoration professional. She is called to examine the Sarajevo Haggadah, taken from the library and hidden during the bombing. The year is 1996, she is Hanna Heath, fatherless daughter to a famous neurosuregon who has never understood her work. The story slowly unfolds, going back into the 14th century, as Geraldine Brooks imagines the beginnings of the book and its progress through the centuries to Sarajevo. Some of its history is known and some is only supposed, but Ms. Brooks has created a compelling story from the little know truth about the actual Sarajevo Haggadah. The author makes much of the saving of the book, once during the Nazi occuaption of Vienna by a Muslim, and once again it is a Muslim who saves it during the Bosnian war. This book is full of rich language, beautiful imagery, and historical settings. A book for artists, booklovers, and historians; and anyone who loves a good story. I am sorry I waited so long to read it.