Cannon Beach Reads: “People of the Book”

The book that will be discussed, via Zoom, on Wednesday 17, will be People of the Book, by Geraldine Brooks. People of the Book (2008) is a fictionalized story of the Sarajevo Haggadah, a 14th century illuminated manuscript containing the text recited on the first two nights of Passover. Brooks uses the real story of the Haggadah as the basis for her tale of its creation, and its escape from destruction during the Inquisition, World War II, and the Bosnian War.

Moving back and forth in time, Brooks interweaves the modern-day story of book conservator Hannah Heath, with stories of the illuminators, bookbinders, rabbis, priests and librarians who created, owned, sold, and saved the Haggadah from 1480 in Seville, to Tarragonna in 1492, to Venice in 1609, to Vienna in 1894, and to modern day Sarajevo and Jerusalem.

Geraldine Brooks is an Australian-American journalist and novelist. As a foreign correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, she covered war zones in Africa, the Balkans, and the Middle East. She won the Nita Kibble Literary Award for her memoir Foreign Correspondence in 1997, and the Pulitzer Prize for her novel March in 2005.

Wanda Meyer-Price will lead the discussion, which will take place via Zoom, on Wednesday, March 17, beginning at 7 p.m. Cannon Beach Reads plans to meet via Zoom on the third Wednesday of each month at 7 p.m. until in-person meetings are possible again. New members are always welcome. If you would like to participate,  contact Joseph Bernt at berntj@ohio.edu.