I went to the writer talk today with no prior knowledge on Geraldine Brooks. Her talk was both witty and insightful. I was actually reminded of our class when she started to describe how she was inspired to write the book “People of the Book”. She was sparked by the mystery behind a Hebrew codex known as Sarajevo Haggadah. Little is known about the owners of the book other than it was saved from destruction twice by Muslims and once by a catholic priest.
Once Brook had her topic, she went to see the actual text itself as it was in a state of preservation. She described getting an epiphany as the preserver removed little fragments from the pages such as a hair or an insect’s wing and saving them. Each of these small tidbits were clues to the history of this book. Brooke decided that while we may never know the true path of the Sarajevo Haggadah, she could create a story and allow these clues to lead into her story. This really made me think of all the time our class spent looking at books and important documents, such as the slave emancipation documents. Each of these documents has a history and clues much like the ones Brook keys into to.
When studying primary source documents, we certainly look at a lot more than just the thing itself. For a book, which you usually just think to read, you also need to look at the pages, the binding, stains, damage, anything. It’s amazing just how intensive and thorough these studies can be.
I found it interesting where she searches for her historical treasures. When writing from the voice of a Puritan girl, there are no diaries or personal writings from which to get clues. This void, as Brooks informed us, stems from the fact that girls were taught to read so they could read the Bible to their family members in the future, but they were never taught to write. They were never given a voice in public. She, therefore, had to look at public court records–the only forum where women could publicly speak and be recorded. As we study English/Literature, History, Anthropology and Sociology, Economics, etc. as individual subjects, her discussion reminded me of the interdisciplinary abilities needed for writing.
I think it impressive how much work she puts in to learning about all this history. Her works considered historical fiction. However, she would never just publish a random story. She needs to have every single detail she can find about that time period before she even begins to write her story.