Geraldine Brooks, Pulitzer-prize-winning author
January 11th, 2008 by Adina Fleming in Books & Readings
Adina Fleming speaks with Geraldine Brooks, Pulitzer-prize-winning author - download
In the unglamorous world of ancient-book conservation, the Sarajevo Haggadah is a celebrity. A prized gem of medieval Judaica, the Haggadah’s remarkable survival since its creation in the 1400s in Spain, through centuries of war and persecution, makes it a valuable item. A Haggadah, named from the Hebrew root “to tell,” is a traditional Jewish book used at the Passover Seder relating the story of the Jews’ exodus from Egypt.
But the Sarajevo Haggadah is far from traditional, and its existence is shrouded in mystery. Decorated in richly colored illustrations at a time when the Jewish commandment against creating graven images prevented most books from containing any pictures whatsoever, the Haggadah’s illustrations show scenes both intriguing and mystifying to scholars, and what little is known about its history makes its survival both puzzling and amazing.
For author Geraldine Brooks, it was this very mix of the known and the unknown surrounding the Sarajevo Haggadah that inspired her historical novel, People of the Book.
Continue reading “The truth, as she sees it”
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