People of the Book

In 1996, Hanna Heath, an Australian rare-book expert, is offered thejob ofalifetime: analysis and conservation ofthe famed
                 
Sarajevo Haggadah, which has ... been rescued from Serb shelling dur'ing the Bosnian war. Friceless and beautiíül, the book is one ofthe earliest Jewish volumes ever to be illuminated with images. When Hanna, a caustic loner with apassion for her work, discovers a series oftiny artefacts 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'sjourney from its salvation back to its creation. In Bosnia during World War II, a Muslim risks his life to protect it from the Nazis. In the hedonistic salons offin-de-siecle Vienna, the book becomes a pawn in the struggle against the city's rising anti-Semitism. In Venice during the time of the inquisition, a Catholic priest saves it from burning. In Barcelona in 14th, the scribe who wrote the text sees his family destroyed by the agonies ofenforced exile. Ai-id in Seville in 1480, the reason for the Haggadah's extraordinary illuminations is finally disclosed. Hanna's investigation unexpectedly plunges her into the intrigues offine art forgers and ultra-nationalist fanatics, and her experiences will test her beliefin herselfand the man she has come to love.