A marvelous treatise on friendship between Jews and Muslims and the sacred texts they share. The central metaphor (the book as a person) is keen and very well-chosen, and is matched with a clever perspective (the hero is a book conservator whose mother just happens to be a doctor). The imagined history of the Sarajevo Haggada is colorful and well-drawn. While on the one hand this is a hopeful book (because after all, it’s about the survival of an ancient and brittle text, and the nation it represents) on the other it’s a grim tour of oppression through the ages.

One relatively minor note, I wasn’t thrilled with the ending. I understand that it’s a sort of twist on the true-life story of the Sarajevo Haggada (look it up; it’s quite fascinating) - but I found it a little too outlandish for such a well-composed book.

I very much enjoy Brooks’s books; historical fiction with a religiously pluralistic bent is not something you see very often. While this book mused less on theology than did Caleb’s Crossing, it’s still quite fascinating and well worth it.