Geraldine Brooks

When it falls to Australian rare book expert Hanna Heath to conserve this priceless work, the tiny artifacts she discovers in its ancient binding—a butterfly wing fragment, wine stains, salt crystals, a white hair—only begin to unlock the book’s deep mysteries and unexpectedly plunges Hanna into the intrigues of fine art forgers and ultra-nationalist fanatics.

A Novel

People of the Book

Going through different emotions between the chapters, though some flashbacks don’t make sense to me, until I reached the original artist of the haggadah’s point of view. An honest life that she lived, as a Muslim, aligned beautifully with her intentions to capture the Jew’s account of God’s creation and the life of the Jewish family who took her refuge and eventually loved her as their own, enabling the creation of a cultural heritage that lives to this day—worthy of the importance of its history to be displayed in a museum—even after five hundred years. Her story is what inspired me the most, as it was both tragic and touching, but it was a relief to know that in the end, we didn’t meet her demise, as she found her own safe place among the Jewish family whom she cherished her whole life, or so it seemed.

The clarity in the book’s chapters may not be as easy to link from one to another as to explain what’s told in the haggadah until we read Zahra Al-Tarek’s 

 (Seville, 1480), but I think that’s what made it even more grand, nearing the end. I love the way each place was described so vividly, as if Brooks herself had ever paid a visit. The clear depiction, down to even the most obscure details, was so elaborate that I had to take my time to appreciate the whimsical sensations, so tangible, as if 

 were also transported back to a certain place at a certain time. I highligted a lot of lines because they feel so close to me I could 

 touch and absorb all of it with my senses.

Furthermore, though it may sound irrelevant from the rest of the review, Hanna’s relationship with her mother gave me somewhat uncomfortable feelings as I could imagine how troubled a child could be if she were treated the way Hanna was, and it was a tense-emotional moment, unfortunate for both of them to live separately after everything. Still, it feels lacking in coherence to the high-profile job Hanna took to preserve the haggadah that I feel out of it sometimes. That aside, I would say I’ve enjoyed the book thoroughly, though if I am to be honest, I still like 

Little Flower

“I have spent many nights, lying awake in this room, thinking that 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 divided us. That to be human being matters more than to be a Jew or a Muslim, Catholic or Orthodox.”

Going through different emotions between the chapters, though some flashbacks don’t make sense to me, until I reached the original artist of the haggadah’s point of view. An honest life that she lived, as a Muslim, aligned beautifully with her intentions to capture the Jew’s account of God’s creation and the life of the Jewish family who took her refuge and eventually loved her as their own, enabling the creation of a cultural heritage that lives to this day—worthy of the importance of its history to be displayed in a museum—even after five hundred years. Her story is what inspired me the most, as it was both tragic and touching, but it was a relief to know that in the end, we didn’t meet her demise, as she found her own safe place among the Jewish family whom she cherished her whole life, or so it seemed.

The clarity in the book’s chapters may not be as easy to link from one to another as to explain what’s told in the haggadah until we read Zahra Al-Tarek’s A White Hair (Seville, 1480), but I think that’s what made it even more grand, nearing the end. I love the way each place was described so vividly, as if Brooks herself had ever paid a visit. The clear depiction, down to even the most obscure details, was so elaborate that I had to take my time to appreciate the whimsical sensations, so tangible, as if I were also transported back to a certain place at a certain time. I highligted a lot of lines because they feel so close to me I could almost touch and absorb all of it with my senses.

Furthermore, though it may sound irrelevant from the rest of the review, Hanna’s relationship with her mother gave me somewhat uncomfortable feelings as I could imagine how troubled a child could be if she were treated the way Hanna was, and it was a tense-emotional moment, unfortunate for both of them to live separately after everything. Still, it feels lacking in coherence to the high-profile job Hanna took to preserve the haggadah that I feel out of it sometimes. That aside, I would say I’ve enjoyed the book thoroughly, though if I am to be honest, I still like Horse—her most recent work—better.

Laura Mauler

Loved it.
Easily moved into position as one of my favorite books of all time.

momo-reads

I was ready to love this based on premise and recommendation alone.  I did love some chapters/characters but really hated others; it's tough to get invested in a story when the main characters are unbelievable.

Sarah Ryan

Discovered this lying forgotten on a bookshelf in the house. Really enjoyed the interweaving narratives of modern day conservationist Hanna Heath with the prior throw the ages that had come into contact in variations ways with the book. Historical fictions meets arts and science.

Jenni Pertuset

Oh, oh, can you help me? I just read the first page of this on Amazon and it reminded me of a book that entranced me several years ago. I'll give you a prize if you can help me find the book. What I remember: a traveling researcher or restoration specialist in China who describes her approach to memory as like a house with many rooms, and to retrieve a memory she must mentally walk into that room. What is it?

Carroll Lachnit

I want to love this book. So far, I don't. It's been a long time since I read  The Source by  James Michener, but the structure and approach are similar. So far, that was a much MUCH better book. It's a shame,too, because I really like Brooks' previous novel,  March.

Melody Izard

OK, there’s no getting around that there are some Da Vinci Code similarities. I know that will keep some from wanting to read it right there – so let’s just get that over with. But for those of you who liked the DVC or at least didn’t hate it, this is a pretty good read. Hanna Heath, an Australian rare-book expert is asked to stabilize the famed Sarajevo Haggadah that has just been rescued from destruction during the Bosnian war. She finds some tiny little clues to the past owners of the holy book and becomes obsessed with figuring out what they mean. We get her story and the possible explanation of the origin and path the book has traveled. The story gets a little bogged down at times – and some of the occurrences are not very believable – but still, I enjoyed it.

Regina Corley 

A novel from the author of ‘March’ and ‘Year of Wonders’ takes place in the aftermath of the Bosnian War, as a young book conservator arrives in Sarajevo to restore a lost treasure.

window

Interesting premise, great characters, well-written. 

The main part of the story takes place in the mid-1990s in war-torn Sarajevo as book conservationist Hanna travels there from her native Australia to work on the Sarajevo Haggadah, the oldest surviving Jewish illuminated manuscript, which contains the traditional text that accompanies the Passover Seder. Brooks's history of the Haggadah is fiction based loosely on fact but the book itself is real. 

Hanna discovers many interesting things in the Haggadah, including an Alpine insect wing, a non-kosher wine stain, a white cat hair, and saltwater. Hanna notes that a very intricate and decorative clasp is missing from the book. The book is also full of elaborate illuminations, which are apparently very unusual in a haggadah. One of the paintings portrays a well-dressed dark-skinned woman standing with a white family - for all appearances, a slave in what looks like a family portrait. Hanna sets out to solve the mystery of how these odd items came to be in the book, as well as to figure out what happened to the clasp and who the slave woman is.

While Hanna comes close to solving a few of the mysteries, the real story of each of the items is told in a series of short stories within the main narrative. The author alternates between the present-day and the short stories. Each short story goes back further in time and retraces the places the book has been, the people who intereacted with it and how they protected the book and themselves against those who would destroy them over religious differences. Each of the short stories are so well done that any of them could probably be developed into a full story on their own. I found myself wishing to read more about many of them.

At the core of the story is the sad truth that people have been persecuting each other over differences in religion throughout history all the way up through the "ethnic cleansing" in Sarajevo. And of course, religious persecution continues today. The book really struck a chord with me in both the senselessness of killing people over religion as well as the fact that humankind appears doomed to perpetuate such senselessness.

Ben Nathan

This book was a pure WOW. Absolutely riveting. Brilliantly written. Engrossing story well designed. I just can't say enough good stuff about it. It definitely goes down as one that I will be recommending. The reader was great too.

People of the Book A Novel

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