People of the Book

Chapter 1, Section 1 Summary

The novel begins in Sarajevo, where narrator and manuscript conservator Hanna is waiting on the top floor of an old bank to inspect that precious Sarajevo Haggadah, a medieval Jewish illuminated manuscript. Hanna is flanked by Bosnian and Sarajevo police, as well as UN officials. Hanna describes her nerves, not only about doing this important work, but also about being in a war-torn city where mortars have destroyed apartment walls. Her nerves and the political situation are clear in an exchange with a flight attendant as Hanna resists leaving the safety of her airplane: “‘I thought the cease-fire was being observed,’ I said. ‘It is,’ she said brightly. ‘Most days.’” (7). Hanna recalls the phone call she received at 2 a.m. From Jewish manuscript expert Amitai in Israel, asking her to take on this job because as an Australian, she was politically neutral, if not the most qualified person for the job. The section ends when the museum official who she and the guards have been waiting on for two hours finally arrives, carrying a sealed metal box, which he eases open to reveal the Haggadah.

Chapter 1, Section 2 Summary

Hanna begins to inspect the book, admiring the chemical composition of the paints and colors in the illuminated drawings. She pulls out two samples from the spine of the book, a tiny hair and a small fragment of an insect wing. She examines the illuminated drawings and is interrupted by the museum liaison, who asks if she will replace the tarnished silver leaf. She criticizes the man for interrupting before realizing he is Ozren, the National Museum librarian who saved the book from being destroyed mid-bombing years before. Hanna gives a spiel about only preserving what is necessary to maintain the history of the book, saying “To restore a book to the way it was when it was made is to lack respect for its history” (17). Then, she gets back to work, at times letting her mind float from her work to her mother, a highly regarded neurosurgeon, who has always criticized her for choosing book restoration as a field. Hanna then gives a glimpse into the mysterious origins of the Haggadah, including its donation by an unknown man named Kohen, and eventually relinquishes the treasured volume back to Ozren as night falls. As the book is locked safely back in its vault, Ozren invites Hanna to dinner.

Chapter 1, Section 3 Summary

Ozren and Hanna step out into the cold and begin their walk to the old part of the city. Hanna is skeptical at first, offering to take an armored car because of the danger, but Ozren insists, saying, “[T]here has been no sniping for over a week now” (25). They walk, and Ozren points out the carcasses of buildings bombed and burnt from the war. In the old city, the streets narrow and more buildings are preserved, saved by their own proximity to each other. The pair eat a tasty dinner in a bustling restaurant, and Hanna quizzes Ozren about the day he saved the Haggadah. He replies, “We did not believe in the war [...] We were too intelligent, too cynical for war. Of course, you don’t have to be stupid and primitive to die a stupid, primitive death” (29). The food comes and Ozren stops talking. He watches Hanna eat, and she apologizes for putting him off his appetite with memories of that dangerous day. They flirt, and Ozren leads Hanna back to his house, where they have sex. Later, the two are in bed and Hanna admires a painting on the far wall of a woman shielding an infant with her body. Ozren reveals that his friend painted the portrait—it is of Ozren’s wife.

Chapter 1, Section 4 Summary

Hanna and Ozren maintain an uncomfortable distance. Hanna reveals that after spending three nights together at Ozren’s apartment, she woke to find him staring at the portrait of his wife and child. She asked him what happened. He takes her to the top of a nearby mountain, where a sniper had a clear view into the city. From there, as they look down onto the streets of Sarajevo, he tells her about the sniper who shot his wife Aida while she was waiting in a water line, and the way she crawled to shield their son Alia with her body. She was shot again and killed, and a fragment of the bullet deflected to hit Alia’s head. There was no neurosurgeon in the city, and Alia fell into a coma. Despite her apprehension, Hanna goes with Ozren to visit Alia, where he becomes enraged at her when she pushes him to get a second opinion on Alia’s brain scans: “You convince yourself you can cheat death, and you are absolutely offended when you learn that you can’t” (37), Ozren spits at her. After the argument, he tries to apologize and Hanna brushes him off. Two days later, they part ways curtly. Hanna plans to go to Vienna to get the insect wing and hair samples tested and to visit her old mentor. She also plans to meet her mother in Boston, where Hanna has a manuscript consultation; she hopes her mother can give her another opinion on Alia’s brain scans, which she smuggled from the hospital using her mother’s good name.

Chapter 1, Section 5 Summary

Hanna travels to Vienna, which is beginning to look much cleaner and more luxurious after the fall of the Iron Curtain. She reflects on her past experiences in Vienna, and in particular with Amalia Sutter, the entomologist she is going to meet. She met Amalia in Queensland when she was 16, and Amalia taught her the power of “passionate attention” (42). At Amalia’s lab, Hanna gives her the insect wing. Amalia is pleased and identifies it almost immediately as a Parnassius butterfly. Hanna is at first disappointed that the butterfly is common, but soon learns it only spends time in high alpine climates, meaning the Haggadah has likely taken a trip over the Alps.