The Binding

[Jennifer, Moderator]

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.

The Binding Bridget Collins

[Amber]

Started this yesterday and so far it seems slow going. Hopefully it picks up in Part 2.

[Vikki, Moderator]

I had been a bit unsure about at the start but I ended up really liking it.

[Jennifer, Moderator]

Glad to hear that. Looking forward to whether Amber ended up liking it better.

[Amy]

Really liking it.

[〰️Beth〰️]

Hoping to start this in the next two days, glad to hear everyone is liking it. I’ve had toe paper back collecting dust for years so I am happy to have incentive to sit down and read. Thank you to who ever picked this!