A young British woman working in a book bindery gets a chance to
pursue knowledge and love when World War I upends her life in this new
novel from the New York Times bestselling author of the Reese's Book
Club pick The Dictionary of Lost Words.
It is 1914, and as the war draws the young men of Britain away to fight,
women must keep the nation running. Two of those women are Peggy and
Maude, twin sisters who live on a narrow boat in Oxford and work in the
bindery at the university press.
Ambitious, intelligent Peggy has been told for most of her life that her
job is to bind the books, not read them--but as she folds and gathers
pages, her mind wanders to the opposite side of Walton Street, where the
female students of Oxford's Somerville College have a whole library at
their fingertips. Maude, meanwhile, wants nothing more than what she
has: to spend her days folding the pages of books in the company of the
other bindery girls. She is extraordinary but vulnerable, and Peggy
feels compelled to watch over her.
Then refugees arrive from the war-torn cities of Belgium, sending
ripples through the Oxford community and the sisters' lives. Peggy
begins to see the possibility of another future where she can educate
herself and use her intellect, not just her hands. But as war and
illness reshape her world, her love for a Belgian soldier--and the
responsibility that comes with it--threaten to hold her back.
*
The Bookbinder* is a story about knowledge--who creates it, who can
access it, and what truths get lost in the process. Much as she did in
the international bestseller The Dictionary of Lost Words, Pip
Williams thoughtfully explores another rarely seen slice of history
through women's eyes.
