In 1996, Hanna Heath, an Australian rare-book expert, is offered the job of a lifetime: analysis and conservation of the famed Sarajevo Haggadah, which has been rescued from Serb shelling during the Bosnian war. Priceless and beautiful, the book is one of the earliest Jewish volumes ever to be illuminated with images. When Hanna, a caustic loner with a passion for her work, discovers a series of tiny artifacts in its ancient bindingโan insect wing fragment, wine stains, salt crystals, a white hairโshe begins to unlock the bookโs mysteries. The reader is ushered into an exquisitely detailed and atmospheric past, tracing the bookโs journey from its salvation back to its creation.
In Bosnia during World War II, a Muslim risks his life to protect it from the Nazis. In the hedonistic salons of fin-de-siรจcle Vienna, the book becomes a pawn in the struggle against the cityโs rising anti-Semitism. In inquisition-era Venice, a Catholic priest saves it from burning. In Barcelona in 1492, the scribe who wrote the text sees his family destroyed by the agonies of enforced exile. And in Seville in 1480, the reason for the Haggadahโs extraordinary illuminations is finally disclosed. Hannaโs investigation unexpectedly plunges her into the intrigues of fine art forgers and ultra-nationalist fanatics. Her experiences will test her belief in herself and the man she has come to love.
Inspired by a true story, People of the Book is at once a novel of sweeping historical grandeur and intimate emotional intensity, an ambitious, electrifying work by an acclaimed and beloved author.
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Fresh Air - NPR - January 14, 2008 Diane Rehm Show - NPR - January 10, 2008 Morning Edition - January 1, 2008 All Things Considered - December 7, 2007
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