People of the Book put me under a spell from the first chapter. At times it was an enjoyable book to read because of the fluid, almost perfect storytelling. Other times, I had to put the book away for a time because it was so difficult to read about the pain of others. In the story, Brooks uses a book as the mechanism to take us on a historical journey through a time when it was acceptable to torture, maim, and kill others (mostly Jews in this tale) because of their religious beliefs. Since that seems to be occurring elsewhere in the world today, I suppose this narrative could be called timeless. It's a sad history that she tells but a beautifully told story.