People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks

Like a lot of the books I've read recently, People of the Book grabbed my attention because of the possibility of finding a story like The Shadow of the Wind. Some disappointed (351 Books of Irma Arcuri) and some provided similar entertainment, like People of the Book.

The premise of the story is nothing short of amazing, especially when you consider that it is based on a true story. A Jewish haggadah--a religious book that sets the order of the Seder--makes its way from Spain to Italy to Bosnia to Israel, with mishaps and large chunks of its history missing. It is illuminated--that is, it has illustrations--which is unheard of for Jewish texts. Also, it is saved multiple times not only by its Jewish owners but also by Muslims who recognize its beauty and importance.

Brooks tells it in a reverse order, with the Bosnia scene first and then working back to Spain. Interspersed in all of these histories is the story of Hanna Heath, an Australian book conservator who is called to Sarajevo to restore the newly rediscovered text. Five trace clues (a butterfly wing, a white hair, wine stains, silver clasps, and salt crystals) drive Hanna's multicontintenal investigation into the history aspect of the book. For Hanna, what ensues is a pretty predictable, rather unimaginative love story and finding of herself.

All in all, People of the Book is a good story that had great possibility. The telling of the story and the language used in that telling just fall short. Hanna's voice is just fine; it is straight and to the point, much how you would imagine Brooks' own journalistic voice. Unfortunately, that voice carries over to all of the historical parts too so that a story that is supposed to be told in the 1500s sounds like it is told today. Thus it loses a lot of the magic it could have held. That voice worked when Brooks was writing her article for the New Yorker on this very subject, but it doesn't work for the novel. While I don't expect her to change language or change her writing style, some sort of differential writing would have made the book a lot stronger.