The Binding by Bridget Collins

The Binding

by Bridget Collins

LOSE YOURSELF IN THE BREAKOUT SENSATION OF THE YEAR

SHORTLISTED FOR WATERSTONES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2019

Brilliant’ Joanna Cannon
SpellbindingGuardian
Magic’ Erin Kelly
ImmersiveSunday Times
Gorgeous' Stella Duffy
Astounding’ Anna Mazzola

Imagine you could erase your grief.
Imagine you could forget your pain.
Imagine you could hide a secret.
Forever.

Emmett Farmer is working in the fields when a letter arrives summoning him to begin an apprenticeship. He will work for a Bookbinder, a vocation that arouses fear, superstition and prejudice – but one neither he nor his parents can afford to refuse.

He will learn to hand-craft beautiful volumes, and within each he will capture something unique and extraordinary: a memory. If there’s something you want to forget, he can help. If there’s something you need to erase, he can assist. Your past will be stored safely in a book and you will never remember your secret, however terrible.

In a vault under his mentor’s workshop, row upon row of books – and memories – are meticulously stored and recorded.

Then one day Emmett makes an astonishing discovery: one of them has his name on it.

THE BINDING is an unforgettable, magical novel: a boundary-defying love story and a unique literary event.

Reviewed by littleread1 on

5 of 5 stars

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That ... was not what I was expecting from that book. I mean that in the best way. Just incredible. It did take me a while to really get invested in the story, but once I was sucked in, I was SUCKED in. A really really neat "magic" system of how books are made, as well as a journey of self discovery for Emmett. This might be the last book I finish in 2019, and man, what a book to close out the year. Stunning.

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  • Started reading
  • 30 December, 2019: Finished reading
  • 30 December, 2019: Reviewed