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.