People of the Book

What role does power play in persecution and alienation in this novel? In what ways is it political, and in what ways is it personal?

Choose a character, and examine how their identity impacts the way they interact with those considered “other” than them. 

In what ways does naming, and changing names, significantly impact characters in this novel and their conceptions of self?

This novel is centrally concerned with themes of exile and war. How does the survival of the Haggadah contrast with and relate to the survival of the “people of the book” (265)?

In what ways does the revelation of Hanna’s family narrative mirror the revelation of the secret narrative of the Haggadah?

How is religion discussed in this novel? How does Brooks characterize it as both a force of strength and goodness and a force of persecution, violence, and evil?

What do libraries (and collections of books other than the Haggadah) symbolize in the context of this novel? What power do books hold?

How is the false Haggadah, as Hanna argues at the end of the novel, part of the real Haggadah’s history? Do you agree with her sentiment? Why or why not?