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A review by brunchbookclub
The Binding by Bridget Collins
4.0
A solid 4/5 from me! This is one magical tale and I loved it.
Book Binding is a mysterious process that is feared and shrouded in secrecy. Books are taboo so when Emmet Farmer is caught by his father with one he is mercilessly scolded. And yet, Emmet is still drawn to these forbidden pages. Growing up on a farm, Emmet is always at work fixing a fence, tending to the animals, helping his father, so when a fever takes him and his mind he's sent away to become a Binder's apprentice. With reluctance and dread he goes, there he meets Seredith who teaches him the ways of Book Binding. Slowly he regains his health and learns how to create endpapers, gild edges, marble paper, and mould leather but he still doesn't know what the essence of Book Binding truly is: capturing a person's memory they long to forget and keeping it safely bound in a book. However, when Emmet discovers a book with his name on it all that he thought he knew and all that he thought he remembers becomes undone.
This is truly a brilliant book. Although it is slow to start once we arrive at Seredith's crookedly comfy home I was locked IN! However, it's in Part Two that was really taken away by the story. The arrival of Lucian Darnay, a seemingly haughty aristocrat, and the ensuing disdain both he and Emmet have for one another is just wonderful. The characters are throughly fleshed out and the storyline well written. SPOILER: I do have a gripe with the ending though; it wasn't overly clear how they managed to escape the fire with one passed out, the other with serious head injuries, and both suffering serious smoke inhalation?? If someone could explain that to me that would be fab! Other than that, top marks all round, highly recommend.
Book Binding is a mysterious process that is feared and shrouded in secrecy. Books are taboo so when Emmet Farmer is caught by his father with one he is mercilessly scolded. And yet, Emmet is still drawn to these forbidden pages. Growing up on a farm, Emmet is always at work fixing a fence, tending to the animals, helping his father, so when a fever takes him and his mind he's sent away to become a Binder's apprentice. With reluctance and dread he goes, there he meets Seredith who teaches him the ways of Book Binding. Slowly he regains his health and learns how to create endpapers, gild edges, marble paper, and mould leather but he still doesn't know what the essence of Book Binding truly is: capturing a person's memory they long to forget and keeping it safely bound in a book. However, when Emmet discovers a book with his name on it all that he thought he knew and all that he thought he remembers becomes undone.
This is truly a brilliant book. Although it is slow to start once we arrive at Seredith's crookedly comfy home I was locked IN! However, it's in Part Two that was really taken away by the story. The arrival of Lucian Darnay, a seemingly haughty aristocrat, and the ensuing disdain both he and Emmet have for one another is just wonderful. The characters are throughly fleshed out and the storyline well written. SPOILER: I do have a gripe with the ending though; it wasn't overly clear how they managed to escape the fire with one passed out, the other with serious head injuries, and both suffering serious smoke inhalation?? If someone could explain that to me that would be fab! Other than that, top marks all round, highly recommend.