People of the Book

I’ve just finished reading a very interesting book of the historical fiction genre.

People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks

This book first caught my attention because of the cover. Yes, I do judge books by their covers. The cover is beautiful in it’s simplicity: Black with a gold and blue outline of a butterfly wing, the title in white across the middle of the wing.

And when I opened it, I knew this book was not a waste of time or money.

People of the Book is a fictional representation of the creation, past, and conservation of the Sarajevo Haggadah. The reader is swept into the life of a rare book expert, Hanna, as she takes on the prestigious job of conserving the Haggadah. Then as she analyses artifacts found within the pages of the book, we are given glimpses into the history, going to Sarajevo during World War II, to Vienna, to the Venice Carnivale in 1609, and to Spain in the 1400s.

The history in this book is rich, and fills every line, flowing from the lives of every character and setting. This book is emotional as well, filled with love, regret, anger, fear, and abandonment.

This book does have sexual content. It doesn’t go into great detail, though a couple passages give greater detail than the rest. So if you don’t want anything like that in a book, you may not want this one. Though I have to admit, the richness of the history is enriched because of the sexual content of some passages.