Currently reading
Alex
The Glass Room
Peter the Great: His Life and World
If I Can't Have You: Susan Powell, Her Mysterious Disappearance, and the Murder of Her Children
Skin Deep
The Good Daughter
A Boy in Winter
The Tie That Binds
The Idiot (Everyman's Library, #254)
The Velvet Hours
People of the Book
People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks was an interesting read. During World War Two, a Bosnian Muslin risks his life to save the book from Nazis, it gets caught up in the intrigues of hedonistic nineteenth century Vienna, a Catholic Priest saves it from burning in the fires of the Inquisition. These stories and more make up the secret history of the priceless Haggadah-medieval Jewish prayer book recovered from the smouldering ruins of the war torn city.
The author alternates chapters set in 1996 with those that take place further back in the past. While this works well in some historical fiction novels it did not work for me in People of the Book.
I was amazed by the amount of research that author must have done to write this book. The historical detail and information about bookbinding is incredible and she uses it well. It is an interesting read and I learned some amazing facts.
But for me People of the Book" felt too disjointed. Some of the stories are more compelling than others, so at times I was totally drawn in to the book and at other times it dragged for me. Many of the stories lack resolution and leave you wondering what happened next . I wasn’t convinced by the ending of the book and it left me feeling the it was a bit contrived.
