Book Club - The Binding

We're continuing our exploration of memories and identity in November with The Binding by Bridget Collins. While this was her first novel for adults, she has since written two more. Before that, she wrote under the name B.R. Collins, creating seven books for young adults. She is a trained actor, has had two plays produced, and studied English at King's College.

(Also, from a "judging books by the cover" standpoint, whoever designs her book covers and limited edition hardbacks does beautiful work. All three of her adult novels are gorgeous.)

Where to find the book (as of this writing on 9/27/24):

Hard Copies:
Delaware County Libraries - 9 of 9 copies available
Free Library of Philadelphia - 3 of 3 copies available
Montgomery County Libraries - 13 of 13 copies available

eBooks:
DCL - 0 of 0 copies
FLP - 0 of 1 copies (2 holds)

Audiobooks:
DCL - 0 of 0 copies
FLP - 0 of 0 copies
Everand

Also available to purchase from all major booksellers in all formats.

Summary:

Books are dangerous things in Collins's alternate universe, a place vaguely reminiscent of 19th-century England. It's a world in which people visit book binders to rid themselves of painful or treacherous memories. Once their stories have been told and are bound between the pages of a book, the slate is wiped clean and their memories lose the power to hurt or haunt them.

After having suffered some sort of mental collapse and no longer able to keep up with his farm chores, Emmett Farmer is sent to the workshop of one such binder to live and work as her apprentice. Leaving behind home and family, Emmett slowly regains his health while learning the binding trade. He is forbidden to enter the locked room where books are stored, so he spends many months marbling end pages, tooling leather book covers, and gilding edges. But his curiosity is piqued by the people who come and go from the inner sanctum, and the arrival of the lordly Lucian Darnay, with whom he senses a connection, changes everything.

"An unforgettable novel of enchantment, mystery, memory, and forbidden love, The Binding is a beautiful homage to the allure and life-changing power of books - and a reminder to us all that knowledge can be its own kind of magic." - HarperCollins

Published Jan 7, 2019
437 pages, 15h 29m