Book 33 : People of the book by Geraldine Brooks.
I can with all honesty say that this book will definitly find its place in my top 20 books of all times.
A very valuable and old Haggedah (Jewish prayer book) is saved twice by Muslims in Sarajevo - once right below the nose of the Nazis in the second world war and once during heavy shelling in the Bosnian war in the 1990's. But this is not the first time that this very special book has been saved from fire or other destruction. On these two instances of true life rescues Brooks base a long lifetime of stories for the earliest illustrated haggedah ever discovered.
Elegantly written with stunning true to life characters, it is truly exceptional. I can not wait to read it again. I will also make sure that I read more of her books.
Cat's opinion: a rare 10/10
This book has been on my Amazon wishlist for ages but i keep buying other books instead. Thanks for the review. I'll def bump this one up. :)
ReplyDeleteJust found your blog - and agree that this is what I call "Caviar" book (or 5/5 rating vs 'greasy hamburger' type stories).
ReplyDeleteThe 'James Bond' type incident at the end jarred with the elegance of all previoius vingettes - but overall, a fabulously rich read.