In Bridget Collins’ novel, The Binding, there are the familiar divides between the rich and the poor; those who live in rural areas and city-dwellers; the business owners and their workers. But we also need to add into the mix the binders themselves – people who take the thoughts and memories which make people’s lives unbearable and make them into books. The sufferer is then able to resume their life without the constant memory of their dead child, unfaithful wife or failed business and their book is stored, securely, by the binder who created their book. In the story we follow the life of Emmett Farmer, like most working people in rural areas he is named for his family profession, as he discovers that the mysterious illness he has been suffering means that he must now become a binder himself. Since he has been brought up to fear and mistrust books he is not happy about this and, like most people in the area, he sees the binder he is apprenticed to – an elderly woman called Seredith – as some sort of witch. But, gradually, he learns how Seredith uses the power of binding to help those who are being driven mad by painful memories and how much she cares for those she assists. However, just when it looks as if Emmett has found a safe niche for himself, everything changes. A strange young man arrives asking to be bound, villagers try to destroy Seredith’s home as punishment for the binding she did for a village girl (trying to forget the horrific death of her child) and he suddenly finds himself transported to the city and exposed to the darker side of binding: those who use binders to take away the memories of abuse so they can abuse their victims anew. Or worse, those who take the book created by those bindings and then, instead of storing them safely, sell them for the titillation of both abusers and those who gain pleasure from reading about such acts. I’m going to call the early part of this book a fairly ‘measured’ start – it doesn’t exactly romp away with you – but there is a lot to explain about what binding is and why books are feared or hated by many. After Emmett moves to the city the pace picks up, however, and I really enjoyed the rather tender love story which appears as a long flashback section. But what I really loved about the story was how much it made me think about the things I was referring to in the opening paragraphs of this post: the power which binding gives to those who practice the art and how different characters use that power. Poverty and inequalities are examined (from both sides) and a lot of the issues raised seemed very relevant to the real world despite the historical/alternate reality/slightly magical setting.

Considering this genre is not my taste, I thoroughly enjoyed this read, and felt a part of the twisting narrative, rather than a mere observer.

This book grabbed me from the first chapter. I didn't expect it to take the direction it did but once it did I just couldn't put it down. I wanted the story to keep going. I was disappointed however that the pages fell out at the front of the book. Somewhat ironic for a book called 'The binding'

The writing in this book is astonishingly good, which I'm sure everybody knew from how popular it was. It's put Bridget Collins tentatively on my insta-buy list after one book which is rare, and I've already preordered the equally beautiful looking The Betrayals. I ended up reading The Binding in one sitting because once I'd started digging into Emmett's story, I couldn't look away. Though the ending is hopeful, I reiterate that this is not really a happy story. There are happy moments and beautiful moments, and there's a whole middle section that reads like a hell of a rom-com, but there's a lot of darkness entangled in the premise of this book. In this alternate world, books are bound memories. If you have something you want to forget, or if you just need the money badly enough, you can visit a binder and tell your story. The binder will listen and once you're finished they'll bind a book with your memories trapped inside and you can forget all about them. By its very nature, the book binding makes this book sad. There's stories of incest, rape, abuse all drawn out of the heads of people who are desperate to forget - or who don't have a choice. When Emmett finds a book with his name on it, he wants to know what it is that he chose to forget. The book is split into three sections of a sort. Before Emmett remembers, the remembering and the aftermath. By virtue of the binding itself I knew that the middle section was going to be sad, because nothing ends well when it ends with someone losing their memories, but despite the sad moments I adored this book and the characters in it. The Binding is a story about memory and about power dynamics and families and the darker sides of each, and there's a lot to be cautious about here. If you want a dark story that's gloriously well written, you can't go wrong with the Binding and I'm sure I'll find myself wandering back to it to have my feelings hurt again soon.

I was lucky enough to be sent a copy of this to review and I'll be honest, I was initially drawn in solely because of its oh-so-beautiful cover! Then I found out that this was a book about books - specifically books which are not so much banned as shunned, feared, locked away, secreted; and specifically books which are created by specialists (some more scrupulous than others) by binding - not works of fiction as we would know them, these books contain memories that for one reason or another someone wants forgotten. I was hooked before I'd begun. The fact that it had elements of all my favourite genres without really being confined to any of them only added to this. Even the fact that it is essentially a love story couldn't deter me (and it shouldn't - it's beautiful, full of hope, frustration, guilt and despair: raw feeling and not in the least bit sentimental and squishy). While this is a work of fantasy, it is hinged on real lives and the everyday, in particular society, class and prejudice. Magical realism if you must. But neither of these genres quite sums it up entirely. Similarly, it has the feel of wonderfully gothic, historical fiction, but it's not really that either. Take key elements of all of these styles of writing, mix them up and you've got The Binding. The setting is richly described and I was drawn right into the thick of it. My favourite part of the book is the time Emmett spends at Seredith's bindery: the workshop and vaults, the surrounding marshes, the changing seasons and the isolation - all of it felt so tangible. Likewise, the characters are well-drawn and believable - the way they develop as the story progresses, the way each character is vital to the story and the way we see it from different angles and viewpoints helps bring them depth, purpose and realism. This was a truly captivating book. It is at times dark, horrifying, bleak, but at other times bursting with hope and possibility. It feels both magical and all too real; historical and incredibly relevant. A book that truly swallows you up into its world and has you reading 'just one more page/chapter/part' every time you pick it up.