Els Guardians del Llibre

Though I tried listening to People of the Book, something I rarely do, I wound up getting it from the library so that I could better understand the various time changes and historical references. Brooks is wonderful at delivering insights into historical fiction. March was an exceptional novel and the winner of the Pulitzer Prize .
This book is about an Australian book researcher named Hannah Heath who in 1996 is given the opportunity to travel to Sarajevo to investigate a Jewish Haggadah. From there we go backwards to reveal the stories behind what she finds, (insect wing, wine stain, salt crystal, strand of hair.) The flashbacks were my favorite part of the novel as each one provides a glimpse into the past and reveals interesting aspects about that time in history. The thread of Hanna and her love interests and her relationship with her mother were the necessary threads that brought the story along. ( )

While this book isn't necessarily my cup of tea, the author has a distinct love of history that shines through in this book. The historical parts of the book tend to be the most interesting and the ending is satisfying. ( )

This book follows the story of the famed Sarajevo Haggadah throughout time. Half of it takes place in the present following Hanna, who is a rare book expert. The other half of the book takes place at different time periods following the journey of the book over the centuries. I actually liked the past time frames a lot better than I liked the present time frame with Hanna, but the way that Brooks weaves all those stories together was done really well. ( )

I found this book to be a pleasant surprise, given that it's basically about the history of a specific 15th Century Haggadah. A beautifully illustrated Jewish book was saved from potential destruction during the fighting in Sarajevo in the late 1990's. The history of this rare and valuable Jewish book is told looking backwards in time from a book restorer's interpretations of clues discovered during a restoration. The book conservator takes us back in time walking us through the books many travels and its history up through the present time. The author presents the story in a creative way, discovering a little clue today while restoring the book, and then taking us back in time telling the story of the individuals involved leading up to the clue being a part of the present manuscript. Geraldine Brooks covers periods over five centuries of European history, as well as representatives of the three great religions, but told in story fashion. Her unique approach made the story much more interesting than a straightforward scientific examination of the evidence would have been. ( )

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 binding—an insect wing fragment, wine stains, salt crystals, a white hair—she begins to unlock the book’s mysteries. The reader is ushered into an exquisitely detailed and atmospheric past, tracing the book’s journey from its salvation back to its creation. review from Amazon
Based on a true story