People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks - September 2009
Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2009 12:45 pm
http://opac.clarelibrary.ie/search/t?SE ... rchscope=1
In the aftermath of the Bosnian War a young renowned Australian book conservator named Hannah Heath arrives in Sarajevo to restore a lost treasure, a medieval manuscript which has been recovered from the ruins of war. As Hanna examines the manuscript, the Sarajevo Haggadah, she finds various clues amongst the pages - a stain, an insect wing, a hair and salt crystals. Each item leads her on a search for answers to where the Haggadah has been all its life and the story of its survival is revealed in a journey backward in time from Sarajevo in 1940 to Seville in 1480. Integrated into these vignettes is Hanna's own story. Her meeting with Ozren Karamen, the Muslim librarian who risked his life to save the precious Jewish prayer book, develops into a bittersweet love affair. We learn of her unhappy relationship with her mother and of her passion for her work. As she is led into her own past she unearths the truth about the father she never knew. Inspired by the true story of the Sarajevo Haggadah and meticulously researched, this is a gripping and moving novel about war, art, love and survival.
In the aftermath of the Bosnian War a young renowned Australian book conservator named Hannah Heath arrives in Sarajevo to restore a lost treasure, a medieval manuscript which has been recovered from the ruins of war. As Hanna examines the manuscript, the Sarajevo Haggadah, she finds various clues amongst the pages - a stain, an insect wing, a hair and salt crystals. Each item leads her on a search for answers to where the Haggadah has been all its life and the story of its survival is revealed in a journey backward in time from Sarajevo in 1940 to Seville in 1480. Integrated into these vignettes is Hanna's own story. Her meeting with Ozren Karamen, the Muslim librarian who risked his life to save the precious Jewish prayer book, develops into a bittersweet love affair. We learn of her unhappy relationship with her mother and of her passion for her work. As she is led into her own past she unearths the truth about the father she never knew. Inspired by the true story of the Sarajevo Haggadah and meticulously researched, this is a gripping and moving novel about war, art, love and survival.
Isn't is great when you read a book that stays with you like that. Have you read any others lately that have had a similar effect?