Reviews

"In 1914, when the war draws the young men of Britain away, it is the women who must keep the nation running. Peggy and Maude are twin sisters who work in the bindery at Oxford University Press in Jericho. Peggy is intelligent, ambitious and dreams of studying at Oxford University, but for most of her life she has been told her job is to bind the books, not read them. Maude, meanwhile, wants nothing more than what she has. She is extraordinary but vulnerable. Peggy needs to watch over her...
The Bookbinder of Jericho is a story about knowledge – who makes it, who can access it, and what is lost when it is withheld..."

I want to start by saying that I am one of the few people who wasn't all in love with The Dictionary of Lost Words. I don't really know why, because it had the things I like - women focused, historical setting, exploration of words and language and their power...so maybe it was a timing or a hyped expectations thing. Either way, I didn't rush out to read this.

But then... I saw the stage adaptation of TDoLW and LOVED it. And then TBoJ was available at a bargain price...so I thought, why not. Then I put it off for ages, obviously!

However, recently I picked it up, and read it via a combo of my hard copy and audio, and something about the combo of a woman who loves books, a representation of class struggle and access to education, the home front during WW1 setting, and the female friendships and relationships that were (and had to be) the centre of everything, was really interesting for me! There was a kind of love story, but it wasn't the centre, and I appreciated that element, and the representation of Belgian refugee experiences was also something a bit different, and I enjoyed.

It is probably really important to note that this is NOT a sequel, it is simply a "companion" novel that has a brief crossover of characters from Dictionary, & you definitely can read this on its own if the subject matter is appealing to you.

But yeah, I think many people enjoyed this, but for whatever reason, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked it, which is always a good thing.

bookishcitygal's review against another edition

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2.0

I’m an outlier in this and sorry to those who loved it but… this felt like a chore to read

brighetti's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

Beautifully brought another un/der-told story buried in history to life.

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