October 2008 Book of the Month.

A book you can’t rush but must sit back and become totally absorbed in. Convoluted with fascinating detail and full of short mysteries, almost like a series of linking short stories, it all hangs round the research into an ancient Jewish tome, The Sarajevo Haggadah, from the 1490s. Within its binding are a series of clues/stains which are explored in a multi-time frame novel of the highest order. The researchers’ background is also revealed along the way. Highly recommended.

Comparison: Charles Frazier, Rose Tremain, Will Davenport.

Synopsis

When Hannah Heath gets a call in the middle of the night in her Sydney home about a precious medieval manuscript which has been recovered from the smouldering ruins of wartorn Sarajevo, she knows she is on the brink of the experience of a lifetime. A renowned book conservator, she must now make her way to Bosnia to start work on restoring The Sarajevo Haggadah, a Jewish prayer book – to discover its secrets and piece together the story of its miraculous survival. But the trip will also set in motion a series of events that threaten to rock Hannah’s orderly life, including her encounter with Ozren Karamen, the young librarian who risked his life to save the book.

As meticulously researched as all of Brooks’s previous work, People of the Book is a gripping and moving novel about war, art, love and survival.

Reviews

'Brooks expertly guides us to the conclusion that the world is made up of only two types of people: those who would destroy books and those who would give their lives to save them. This illuminating novel, like its predecessor, is well worthy of both Pulitzer and prime-time approbation.' Independent on Sunday

'These stories have a raw and visceral power. The book is full of historical detail.' Naomi Alderman, F.T. Magazine

'An irresistible subject, given urgency by its timeliness and poignancy by its paradoxicality: for the novel is based on the true story of an ancient Jewish codex saved from the fire by a Muslim librarian. Her performance will satisfy many readers.' Guardian

About the Author

Geraldine Brooks is the author of Year of Wonders and the nonfiction works Nine Parts of Desire and Foreign Correspondence. Previously, Brooks was a correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, stationed in Bosnia, Somalia, and the Middle East.   More books by this author Author 'Like for Like' recommendation