People of the Book

A Novel

By: Geraldine Brooks

Narrated by: Edwina Wren

Length: 13 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

DUBLIN Literary Award winner

Short-listed, Harold U. Ribalow Prize

Indies Choice Book Award nominee

Library of Vermont Literary Award Finalist

Mary Shelly Award winner

Winner of the New England Book Award for Fiction

School Library Journal Best Book of the Year

From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of March, the journey of a rare illuminated prayer book through centuries of war, destruction, theft, loss, and love.

Inspired by a true story, People of the Book is a novel of sweeping historical grandeur and intimate emotional intensity by an acclaimed and beloved author. Called "a tour de force"by the San Francisco Chronicle, this ambitious, electrifying work traces the harrowing journey of the famed Sarajevo Haggadah, a beautifully illuminated Hebrew manuscript created in 15th-century Spain.

When it falls to Hanna Heath, an Australian rare-book expert, to conserve this priceless work, the series of tiny artifacts she discovers in its ancient binding—an insect wing fragment, wine stains, salt crystals, a white hair—only begin to unlock its deep mysteries and unexpectedly plunges Hanna into the intrigues of fine art forgers and ultra-nationalist fanatics.

©2008 Geraldine Brooks (P)2008 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“There’s romance between Brooks and the world, and her writing is as full of heart and curiosity as it is intelligence and judgement.”—The Boston Globe

“Intelligent, thoughtful, gracefully written, and original . . . Brooks tells a believable and engaging story.”—The Washington Post

“Intense, gripping . . . People of the Book, like her Pulitzer Prize-winning previous novel March, is a tour de force that delivers a reverberating lesson gleaned from history. . . . It’s a brilliant, innately suspenseful structure, and one that allows Brooks to show off her remarkable aptitude for assimilating research and conveying a wide range of settings. Also on full display is her keen sense of dramatic pacing.”—San Francisco Chronicle

Down with accents

I really felt the reader's use of accents ruined this book. If I had known it was going to be a theatrical production rather than a book I would have read it - not listened. When one reads a book, their mind and imagination interpret how the characters are speaking. In this case this was imposed by the reader and really ruined the book.

Good book, weak reader

This is an intriguing and well-written story but the ridiculously bad accents of the reader are a serious distraction. The reader makes or breaks an audiobook and I'm afraid in this case she almost breaks - certainly fractures - it.

Narrator over her head - not my favorite Brooks

i like the premise of the story a lot - the history of a 500-year-old Haggadah framed by an Australian historian. The protagonist was very likeable. But I really didnt get the point of her relationship with her mother or her relationship with the guy in Bosnia (I listened so dont inow how to spell names).

Brooks does not shy away from man’s inhumanity to man in any of her books. In this one, it was kind of depressing because, by going backwards in history, the inhumanity was worse with each story. it kind of leaves you with a “well, being a Jew really sucks” feeling. Everyone are all so depressed and that is not my experience married into a family of Israelis.

The burden on the narrator is very great because there are so many different accents and this narrator was not up to the challenge. First of all, the Israeli character pronounces the book ha-GAH-dah. That is an Americanism. Israelis pronounce it ha-gee-DAH and it is very jarring, when the word is used so frequently, to hear such a big mistake. Her Israeli accent is generally pretty bad and Zara, who is a Moor, has an Australian accent.

So overall, it was interesting. i know little about Bosnia and I appreciated historical fiction of that place. But some of the errors in judgment and narrating were too great for me to really enjoy it.

Amazing!

This is by far the best book I have Ever heard! Riveting! I would recommend it to any. I had goose bumps more then a few times.

Liked it

Some of the narrator “voices” grated on my nerves but it is a beautiful story.

Stunning

A beautiful, oft heartbreaking, story that weaves its way through time and back again. Exceptional narration. If you love history, art and books you must partake of this story.

People of the Book

Loved the book. The history of the book and the people involved in it's progress was awsome. The ending was amazing and satisfying.

the narrator almost killed the story!

Would you consider the audio edition of People of the Book to be better than the print version?

No! the narrator was terrible.

What was one of the most memorable moments of People of the Book?

the story is intriguing.

How could the performance have been better?

the attempt at accents failed miserably

Who was the most memorable character of People of the Book and why?

the protagonist

Any additional comments?

yes, someone should have told the narrator to simply read the book

truly wonderful

this book kept my attention from beginning to end. It was a beautiful story and a pleasure to read

wonderful performance, great historical context.

and a sweet love story. moved at a good pace. characters were believable perhaps not the maternal