Perhaps the best way to begin
additional study of this novel is by viewing the pages of the Sarajevo Haggadah
themselves. The best collection
of images on the web may be found at a German website, Talmud.de.
This link will
take you to a Google translation of the site's pages that deal with the
Haggadah. While the translation is not 100% it is remarkably readable.
(If you read German, you may prefer the original
pages). These pages contain many illustrations from the Haggadah,
as well as a page on the history of the Jewish community in Sarajevo.
Author Geraldine Brooks has her own website which contains a
section devoted to People of the Book.
In addtion to interviews and essays, a number of other resources may be
found, including:
- A printable
(PDF) copy of the map
that graces the inside
cover of the novel
- A reader's guide
- The 2007
article
Ms. Brooks wrote for The New Yorker that tells the true and remarkable
stories of Dervis Korkut and Mira Papo, on whom the characters of Serif
Kamal and Lola are based, and which provided inspiration for a great
part of the novel. This is a worthwhile read on its own.
Publishing house
HarperCollins has a detailed set of teaching notes available for download (PDF).
There are any number of interviews with Ms. Brooks available on the
web. This one focuses on how this product of the
Australian Catholic school system came to write the novel.
Bosnia Jews Glimpse Book and Hope. Roger Cohen's
April 16, 1995 New York Times
article about the return of the Sarajevo Haggadah to the Bosnian Jewish
Community. This is an especially compelling read.
Where Hope Has Withered -- A special report.; As Lull
in the War Ends, Sarajevo Is Shellshocked. Another New York Times article by Roger
Cohen, this one dated two months later. Page 3 describes the efforts of
Enver Imamovic, director of the Bosnian National Museum, to save the
Sarajevo Haggadah from destruction in the Bosnian war of the 1990's.
If you want still more, visiting your favorite search engine with the
phrases People of the Book
and Sarajevo Haggadah will
provide tens of thousands of additional resources and readings.
*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*
