People of the Book

Illumination from the Sarajevo HaggadahThis week I read Geraldine Brooks’ new novel People of the Book, an imagined history of a real book, the Sarajevo Haggadah, the oldest surviving Jewish illuminated manuscript, which contains the traditional text that accompanies the Passover Seder.
The history of the book is largely unknown — it’s believed to have been made in Spain some time in the mid-14th century, during the Convivencia, when Christians, Muslims, and Jews lived together in relative peace. The Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492, and nothing more is known of the book until the 1500’s, when notes in the margin indicate that it surfaced in Venice and was saved from the book burnings of the Inquisition. It made its way to Vienna and in 1894 it was sold to the National Museum in Sarajevo. However that didn’t assure its survival — during World War II it was smuggled out of the Museum by a Muslim scholar and during the Bosnian War of the 1990’s it was again saved by a Muslim and hidden inside a bank vault.
The plot of the book traces the fictional history of the Haggadah by traveling forwards and backwards in place and time. In the present day, Hanna Heath, an Australian book restorer, goes to Sarajevo to do restoration and conservation on the book before it is put on display. As part of her conservation efforts, she tries to ascertain more about the book’s history. In parallel, the reader learns about the book’s travels and owners as it journeys back in time across Europe.
I am amazed by the amount of research that Brooks must have done to write her book. There’s lots of information about bookbinding and conservation, as well as an incredible amount of historical detail. The adventures of the main, present-day narrator, Hanna, are awfully contrived, but the interspersed stories imagining the history of the Haggadah are much better. Certainly reading it was a fine way to spend a lazy Saturday afternoon!

7 thoughts on “People of the Book”

  1. That is awesome! I will have to check that out. I was an archaeology major and a religion and classical studies minor. I focused a lot of jewish christian relations in my religion studies and read a lot of illuminated manuscripts in my religion art history classes. Where did you buy it? Do you think they will have it at Barnes & Noble? I need something to read and this sounds perfect.

    great blog 🙂

  2. Morgan: The book has recently been on the NY Times best seller list, so it should be readily available at most book stores. I read a copy I checked out of my local library. You can also order it from Amazon. — Susan

  3. As a fellow Australian I am a great fan of Geraldine Brooks and have The people of the Book on my must-read list. As a library worker who has worked with paper conservators I am very keen to see how Geraldine works in the story of the book with that of the Australian conservator. Other wonderful books by Geraldine Brooks are March (for which she won the Pulitzer Prize last year), the Year of Wonders and Nine Parts of Desire.

  4. I work at the SLV in Melbourne, Aust and we have an exhibition on Illuminated Manuscripts on at the moment. One of the pre exhibition talks was by Geraldine Brooks and I was lucky enough to have a copy of her book to read prior. I finished it with a few days to spare and was so inspired to listen to her tell of its development and her influences when writing the story. It gave me a real hunger to see the manuscripts we have in the exhibition and really opened my eyes to a history i’d never considered before.

    If you’re able to see any of these books in real life dont pass up the opportunity. They are truely amazing and have such intense histories behind them!!

  5. I just read this book as well and felt exactly as you did – especially about the modern day story being so contrived in comparison to the wonderful tales from the past. Really well researched and captivating though.

  6. I just finished the book “People of the book” and was a great experience and a wonderful read, and travel through the eons and hardships of people of different faiths. I would highly recommend the book by Geraldine Brooks.

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