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From the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of March, the journey of a rare illuminated prayer book through centuries of war, destruction, theft, loss, and love
In 1996, Hanna Heath, a young Australian book conservator has been called to handle the job of a lifetime: analysis of the famed Sarajevo Haggadah, a priceless six-hundred-year-old Jewish prayer book that has been salvaged from the destroyed Bosnian library by a courageous librarian. Very little is known about this legendary book. Its provenance and the identity of the artist whose stunning illustrations grace its pages, have long been debated. When Hanna, a caustic loner with a passion for her work, discovers a series of artifacts in its centuries' old folios—an insect wing, wine and salt stains, a white hair—she becomes determined to unlock the book's mysteries. As she seeks the counsel of a wide network of contacts from all over the world, from lab technicians to the lions of her trade, the narrative plunges us into the exquisitely detailed and atmospheric past, tracing the book's epic journey from its creation to its salvation.
In Bosnia during World War II, a Muslim librarian risks his life to protect it. In Vienna in 1894, a sick and penniless bookbinder barters with it as the only valuable object in his possession. In Venice in 1609, an ecclesiastical censor saves the book in a fit of rage and personal anguish. In Barcelona in 1492, the family of the scribe who wrote the text is nearly destroyed by the soldiers of the inquisition. And in Seville in 1480, a slave's striking portraits are immortalized forever.
Hanna's investigation enables her to expose a nefarious international cover up and offers her a second chance at lasting romance. Intricate, vivid, and utterly engrossing, People of the Book is at once a novel of sweeping historical grandeur, vividly realized characters, and electrifying intrigue from an acclaimed and beloved author.
Geraldine Brooks is the author of March, the recipient of the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. She is also the author of Year of Wonders, Nine Parts of Desire, and Foreign Correspondence. Previously, Brooks was a correspondent for The Wall Street Journal in Bosnia, Somalia, and the Middle East. Born and raised in Australia, she lives in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts with her husband, the author Tony Horwitz, and their son.
Praise for March:
“A beautifully wrought story.”—Los Angeles Times Book Review
“Wholly original and engrossing.”—The Washington Post
“Sensitively and purposefully done.”—San Francisco Chronicle
“A very great book. . . . It honors the best of the imagination.”—Chicago Tribune
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