About People of the Book

Perhaps I'm biased but I think our November selection, People of the Book, is a great choice to settle in with on a brisk fall evening. Joan, one of the contributors to Turning the Page, our books and reading blog, did a beautiful job summing up the plot. Here's an excerpt from her review:

"Australian manuscript conservator Hanna Heath is called in by a museum librarian in Sarajevo to preserve the unusual haggidah, which has miraculously survived the ethnic cleansings in that city as just the latest chapter in its long and violent history. She discovers tiny physical traces of the book’s past—a bloodstain, a fleck of butterfly wing, a cat’s hair, salt crystals—in its pages and binding.

As Hanna investigates the provenance of each of these clues, the novel jumps back in time through the centuries to reveal how each came to be in the book and to tell the tale of each person through its history who helped protect the book against destruction..."

And she concludes by saying:

"Lots of readers are going to enjoy Brooks’ detailed historical research, her very readable style, and the knowledge that it’s all inspired by a true story, the history of the Sarajevo Haggadah."

I couldn't agree more! By the way, if you'd like to read more of Joan's review, here's the link to her post in Turning the Page.