Will I love People of the Book?

The People of the Book took me to several places far away and far in the past, the author uncovering the storyline so gradually that one feels immersed in another time and place. And not just one, but several times and places, as the present-day heroine uncovers the story of the Haggadah, an ancient Jewish book, using her historical skills. Meanwhile, one is also caught up in the heroine's own difficulties and desires. The writing is full, colorful, brimming with details, and enlivened with colorful people and places. This book is the best I've read by Geraldine Brooks.

The author transported me back into the ancient world in a style that I loved - rich, evocative, and lively.

Pulitzer Prize winner Geraldine Brooks spins a tale spanning continents and centuries as she fictionalizes the real history of the ancient Sarajevo Haggadah.

I found her writing gripping, and the story of rare book experts, intrigue, and treachery was fascinating. I loved seeing it through the eyes of her young protagonist, master art restorer Hanna Heath.

This era-spanning novel begins today and returns to today, traversing unexpected and enlightening yesterdays. Geraldine Brooks’s tale follows a clever structure as it traces the long history of an illuminated manuscript from the modern day back to its unrecorded origins. As she traverses from the present to multiple periods in the past, she tells dynamic, character-driven stories. Compelling and beautifully written, People was a book I could not put down, and that I recommend to every reader I know.