People of the Book

Author: Geraldine Brooks
Completed: 11/17/09

This is a story about trying to discover the origins of a very rare book, essentially a Jewish prayer book. What makes it so unusual is that there are gilded pictures from a time when the Jewish people believed that putting an image of a person on paper took a bit of their soul. It looks at both the investigation into the history of the book, and then digs deeper into the people involved with the book throughout its history. We are given snapshots into lives during WWII, the Spanish Inquisition, and war-torn Yugoslavia.

People have compared this book to The Da Vinci Code, but I see them as very different. I loved how this book had a main storyline in the present, but then jumped back chronologically to all the people who handled the book. The Da Vinci Code had a few flashback and looked into the history, but didn't actually take you back to the time and get you involved with the people as this did. It was amazing seeing it from other points of view and other time periods in history. The snapshots in time not only provided us with the history but also gave insight to the investigators.

I actually listened to this book, and couldn't wait to listen to more. I highly recommend this book to those who enjoy history, but it would also work well for mystery lovers.

10 words or less: Gripping, and much better than the comparisons.