People of the Book

 

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People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks was published by Penguin Books in 2008. Brooks is a New York Times Bestseller and a Pulitzer Prize winner of March. This book is a historical fiction shifting between 1996 and the past, spanning from WWII and various religious inquisitions and crusades. 

Trigger warnings! There are scenes of torture, murder, rape, manipulative and dysfunctional families. There is also some race and religion discrimination set within historical context.

People of the Book follows Hanna Heath, a rare book conservationist, who is asked to analyze and conserve the Sarajevo Haggadah, one of the earliest Jewish texts ever illuminated. As she works, she finds evidence of the book's past, she begins to unlock the stories behind the book's creation and survival through centuries of conflict.

This book is based on a true story and does an amazing job following Hanna deal with her work, her mother's barbed comments, and learning who she is and wants to be in the world. At the same time, we see the book's past, starting with how it was saved from the Serb shelling in the Bosnian war going back to it's creation by a young woman artist as a gift for the handicapped son of her master. 

I loved this book, partly because of it's post-modern style and partly because it focuses on the people surrounding the book and not the text itself. The style reminds me of All the Birds, Singing by Evie Wyld, two timelines moving in opposite directions, yet intersecting enough to create a bigger picture. The ending is also open, letting the reader come to their own conclusions. I enjoy this but I know some people don't.

I will say the big reveal at the end was a surprise but not in a good way. I felt the Weiner reveal was not built up or earned, though this could be part of the book's style. I wasn't impressed with it, but I understand what it does for Hanna's character in allowing her to separate from her past while connecting to another important part of her.

I won't go into a lot of detail about the book and it's past, since I believe those are the richest and most impressive parts of the book, but I will say Zabra's story is my favorite. I feel so much for this girl who was lost to history and yet provided so much for the creation of the Sarajevo Haggadah. 

This book does deal with a Jewish text and past racial and religious atrocities that surrounded it. This is a part of history that all of the "religions of the book" share. Because of that, I felt the People of the Book does a good job of showing respect towards the text and the religions without trying to pass blame on any one group. 

This is a great book that I highly recommend. As I said, there are some trigger warnings to be aware of, but this book handles a piece of history and imagines the people who surrounded it. 

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