‘People of the Book crosses continents and centuries to bring stories of hope amidst darkness, compassion amidst cruelty, all bound together by the discoveries made by a young Australia woman restoring an ancient Hebrew book.
When Hanna Heath gets a call in the middle of the night in her Sydney home about a precious medieval manuscript that has been recovered from the smouldering ruins of war-torn 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. Bit the trip will also set in motion a series of events that threaten to rock Hanna’s orderly life, including her encounter with Ozren Karamen, the young librarian who risked his life to save the book’
The title of this novel encapsulates the theme behind the story perfectly – it many tales intricately woven into the main story to explain the history of the Haggadah and the many people who risked their lives to keep it safe. The penultimate message is about how diverse cultures influence and enrich one another as Jews, Muslims and Catholics each fight to keep the Haggadah and its history safe. It didn't grab my attention right off the bat however the story was intriguing enough to keep me coming back for more as apposed to just placing the book back in the book-shelf during a very busy time in my life - I enjoyed the story, although i didnt find it riveting.. the message is relevant to today!!
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