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The Binding cover art

The Binding

By: Bridget Collins
Narrated by: Carl Prekopp
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Publisher's Summary

Imagine you could erase your grief.

Imagine you could forget your pain.

Imagine you could hide a secret.

Forever.

Emmett Farmer is working in the fields when a letter arrives summoning him to begin an apprenticeship. He will work for a Bookbinder, a vocation that arouses fear, superstition and prejudice - but one neither he nor his parents can afford to refuse.

He will learn to handcraft beautiful volumes, and within each he will capture something unique and extraordinary: a memory. If there’s something you want to forget, he can help. If there’s something you need to erase, he can assist. Your past will be stored safely in a book, and you will never remember your secret, however terrible.

In a vault under his mentor’s workshop, row upon row of books - and memories - are meticulously stored and recorded.

Then one day Emmett makes an astonishing discovery: one of them has his name on it.

The Binding is an unforgettable, magical novel: a boundary-defying love story and a unique literary event.

©2019 Bridget Collins (P)2019 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic Reviews

"The Binding is a dark chocolate slice of cake with a surprising, satisfying seam of raspberry running through it. It is a rich, gothic entertainment that explores what books have trapped in them and reminds us of the power of story telling. Spellbinding." (Tracy Chevalier)

"Pure magic. The kind of immersive storytelling that makes you forget your own name. I wish I had written it." (Erin Kelly, author of He Said/She Said)

"Truly spellbinding...readers will sink gratefully into the pleasures of its pages.... Like a wonderful meal made from a few simple ingredients: the feeling in your chest when you hold someone in your arms for the first time; the sight of a host of bluebells. In recent years, the state of the world has threatened to make us forget the simple pleasures of kisses and bluebells and thick novels that tell stories of heartbreak. Here is a book to help us remember." (Guardian)

What listeners say about The Binding

Average Customer Ratings
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

One of the best love stories, ever.

Go into this book with a clear mind, an open heart and a desire to feel that life really is worth living.

The binding is is a clever, mysterious book about the things we love and hate about ourselves. As well, it looks at the wider view, the community, it's prejudices and the hidden worlds that lay beneath the surface of those prejudices.

I was unable to stop listening.

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41 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Thoroughly original.

devoured this book. the performance is perfect. a powerful idea and language that embroiders the scenes around you. surprising and touching. I have not enjoyed a story so much in a long time.

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25 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Outstanding!


This book is exquisitely expressive. I've been entranced, drunk on words. Beautiful soul staining art.

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19 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

An unexpected surprise!

What a beautifully written and creative story. I had no idea what this book was about when i started listening and who knows...if i had spent too much time dithering over whether it is something i would read I would have missed out.
Don't overthink it, just do it! You won't be disappointed.

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19 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

What the heck???

I snagged this audiobook after reading one word in the description; MAGICAL. I needed a little more magic in my life and BOY OH BOY did I get that and more. I was swept up in this story from the get-go, it lost a star because of a slight drag midway through. The reader brought the characters to life, putting a great spin on the personality of every person he voiced. What a great book to launch me into 2019’s reading list.

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18 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Wow. I love this book. Something really special.

Thank you Bridget Collins for this incredible novel. What seems a simple tale gathers depth and momentum as the story continues...in the end you’ll be willing the narrator to tell you more, and more quickly because you can’t stand not knowing. A beautiful and relatively simple magical vein runs through the tale - but it is an original one which makes for a fantastic story. I love this book.

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13 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

You will love this, whoever you are.

This book is so beautifully written and Carl Prekopp’s incredible narration and gravelly voice is a joy.

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Great book

So interesting to listen to as the voice actor is amazing and the story so compelling and unusual.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Beautiful couldn’t stop listening

A couple of inconsistencies- not even worth mentioning as it was an enchanting story and wonderfully orated. Let me wanting more . Thanks x

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing

What a lovely, fantastic book, I feel honoured to have read it. Highly recommended it.

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7 people found this helpful

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