People of the Book People of the Book

People of the Book

A Novel

    • 4.3 • 765 Ratings
    • $12.99
    • $12.99

Publisher Description

View our feature on Geraldine Books’s People of the Book.
From the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of March, the journey of a rare illuminated manuscript through centuries of exile and war

In 1996, Hanna Heath, an Australian rare-book expert, is offered the job of a lifetime: analysis and conservation of the famed Sarajevo Haggadah, which has been rescued from Serb shelling during the Bosnian war. Priceless and beautiful, the book is one of the earliest Jewish volumes ever to be illuminated with images. When Hanna, a caustic loner with a passion for her work, discovers a series of tiny artifacts in its ancient binding—an insect wing fragment, wine stains, salt crystals, a white hair—she begins to unlock the book’s mysteries. The reader is ushered into an exquisitely detailed and atmospheric past, tracing the book’s journey from its salvation back to its creation.

In Bosnia during World War II, a Muslim risks his life to protect it from the Nazis. In the hedonistic salons of fin-de-siècle Vienna, the book becomes a pawn in the struggle against the city’s rising anti-Semitism. In inquisition-era Venice, a Catholic priest saves it from burning. In Barcelona in 1492, the scribe who wrote the text sees his family destroyed by the agonies of enforced exile. And in Seville in 1480, the reason for the Haggadah’s extraordinary illuminations is finally disclosed. Hanna’s investigation unexpectedly plunges her into the intrigues of fine art forgers and ultra-nationalist fanatics. Her experiences will test her belief in herself and the man she has come to love.

Inspired by a true story, People of the Book is at once a novel of sweeping historical grandeur and intimate emotional intensity, an ambitious, electrifying work by an acclaimed and beloved author.

GENRE
Fiction & Literature
RELEASED
2008
January 1
LANGUAGE
EN
English
LENGTH
384
Pages
PUBLISHER
Penguin Publishing Group
SELLER
PENGUIN GROUP USA, INC.
SIZE
2.6
MB

Customer Reviews

Red Licorice ,

People of the Book

While this book might not be everyone's "cup of tea" it is an interesting, superbly written novel. The characters are richly drawn and the variety of settings transport the reader to other parts of our world in a believable manner. Engrossingly good read.

Sachimoto ,

A great weave

Although I wasn't drawn in right away it quickly became one of those "wow" books. It was just really well done. The way the author was able to go between the main narrator/character to the "real" stories of how the book came to be, was fantastic. At first I thought it was taking the easy way out by going back in time and highlighting different characters, but it really made for a dynamic and well done woven tale. I highly recommend this book!

Rosie reader ,

People of the book

I found this book fascinating. Learned a great deal more about Jewish history. The concept the author used for the story was unique and the search for truth of The Book was a intriguing mystery.

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