People of The Book

By Geraldine Brooks

Fourth Estate, Sydney, 2008

Reviewer: Phyllida Coombes

This is a book about a book, the Sarajevo Haggadah, a Hebrew codex which does, in fact, exist. During the bloody conflict in Bosnia during the 1990s, a Muslim librarian, Ozren Karamen, rescued the Haggdah from the blazing Sarajevo library. Thus he becomes the kustos (guardian) of the wondrous treasure. Hannah Heath, an Australian book conservator is commissioned to restore the Haggadah, and she embarks on an extraordinary journey od discovery, which the reader is invited to share.

Brooks explores the history of the Sarajevo Haggadah back through time in reverse order. Each chronological aspect of the books life focuses on certain physical, and sometimes minute, evidence that Hanna discovers as she works on her painstaking task. Thus we learn about the significance of an insect's wing, wine stains, saltwater ad a single white hair.

The people of the book are those who have had some connection, sometimes tenuous, sometimes intimate, with the Haggadah: a Jewish partisan living in Sarajevo during World War II; a Viennese doctor of the late 19th century; an alcoholic priest and a rabbi with a gambling addiction in 17th century Venice.

Eventually we reach Spain in the year of 1492 when Columbus set sail for the New World, and meet the sofer (calligrapher) who had inscribed the Haggadah. Finally we learn about the illuminator who painted the wonderful images in the book, a strange aberration since Hebrew texts at the time were seldom illustrated.

Other themes are explored in People of the Book. A recurring motif concerns the relationship between Jews, Christians and Muslims, sometimes amicable, sometimes not. The history of the Jewish race has always been beset with problems, and the history of the Haggadah is set against some of these sufferings. Many die, the victims of persecution, but the book survives.
Geraldine Brookes tells her story with compassion and understanding. While the Sarajevo Haggadah was fact, People of the Book is a work of fiction. Brooks points out in her after word, "most of the plot and all of the characters are imaginary." The historical background has been carefully researched, and the result is a book of considerable substance. The story is fascinating, thought-provoking and lucid. At a time of increasing complexity, danger and at the same time hope in world affairs, I'd warmly recommend this book to anyone who is concerned about our future.