The Binding is a spellbinding tale of love, loss, memory and betrayal. Emmett Farmer is summoned by the bookbinder to train as her apprentice. In Emmett's world books arouse fear and superstition. The bookbinders create beautiful bindings by hand but the books don't just contain stories, they capture people's memories. Emmett learns that binding is a mysterious art as he watches those who come to be bound; the grieving, the broken hearted, those who want to forget. He is desperate to do more than carve and glue and organise but the bookbinder tells him to wait, that his time will come.
Until one day another bookbinder comes and Emmett's world is turned upside down as he discovers a book with his own name on the cover. Why wonders Emmett, what did he want to forget?
Blending fable, fairy tale, fantasy and historical fiction The Binding will appeal across genres and age groups, it's a book about growing up, about loss and first love, about the pain of being human. A truly enchanting novel, definitely one to seek out. The Binding is available now from Borough Press, a division of Harper Collins who kindly sent me a copy to review.
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