The Binding - Bridget Collins

"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 hand-craft 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."

Imagine you could erase grief.
Imagine you could remove pain.
Imagine you could hide the darkest, most horrifying secret.
Forever.

Young Emmett Farmer is working in the fields when a strange letter arrives summoning him away from his family. He is to begin an apprenticeship as a Bookbinder—a vocation that arouses fear, superstition, and prejudice among their small community but one neither he nor his parents can afford to refuse.

For as long as he can recall, Emmett has been drawn to books, even though they are strictly forbidden. Bookbinding is a sacred calling, Seredith informs her new apprentice, and he is a binder born. Under the old woman’s watchful eye, Emmett learns to hand-craft the elegant leather-bound volumes. Within each one they will capture something unique and extraordinary: a memory. If there’s something you want to forget, a binder can help. If there’s something you need to erase, they can assist. Within the pages of the books they create, secrets are concealed and the past is locked away. In a vault under his mentor’s workshop, rows upon rows of books are meticulously stored.

But while Seredith is an artisan, there are others of their kind, avaricious and amoral tradesman who use their talents for dark ends—and just as Emmett begins to settle into his new circumstances, he makes an astonishing discovery: one of the books has his name on it. Soon, everything he thought he understood about his life will be dramatically rewritten.This book has three parts to it. The first act is slow, plodding, and mired in the familiar 'other characters know things but cannot tell the protagonist for reasons' trope. Act two is a major reveal, a flashback, and something I really, really enjoyed. Act three is a new perspective, misery, and extra unpleasantness.. 

The concept of binding memories, locking away emotions, is fascinating. There was something of a cultural clash of the rural, old-world, respect for such an exchange, versus the more urbane and materialistic -- and not to mention vile and/or wicked -- reasons for doing so. It's terribly gruesome and disturbing at times and portrays abuse in many shapes, yet I couldn't look away. For the past few days, I've been wondering why I was so damn affected.

 Yet I'm pretty sure that the sense of dread I felt came from how very realistic the horrors pictured were : you can wrap up abuse with a fantasy bow, in the end what remains is the profound easiness with which we human beings hurt others every single day. The way that some people sold their memories for money, almost a type of mental prostitution, was so horrifying and wrong to me. 

The Binding reminded me of Dickens' works in the way the dichotomy between rural and urban is pictured, with the underlying idea that the rural world is more innocent, and that the city's greed and selfishness spreads into people like a disease. I understand how it could annoy readers and I would have preferred if the comparison didn't feel so simplistic at times, yet it did fit very well the story and therefore didn't bother me.

There is darkness to this story, unpleasantness, and any of the magic I was hoping for was really just limited to the strange practice of the binding and the few binders who could do it. This was a lot less fantastical than I thought it would be and the only surprise was that there is a queer romance within these pages which caught me off guard. 

The relationships portrayed are...  viscerally messy, and I understand why some readers hated the boys. I just. I couldn't.

Both Emmet and Lucian were so unlikable sometimes and yet I loved them so much. There's an enemy to lovers romance with a love triangle of sorts... except not really.

Sigh.

Okay so: I know many people will disagree with me, but what I mean is- there's unrequited love from another character and yes, I know it's a love triangle for some people but nah, not for me. It did hurt, though, because that character was young and sweet. Yet Love is selfish. I don't think we can prevent ourselves from loving someone, even if it hurts someone else we love. I just don't believe that. Do I wish it wasn't this way? Sure. But there's a difference between what I wish and what is. Nobody's cheating. Trust is broken, but I don't think the characters had any other choice, and I'm not gonna judge them for the way they tried to navigate a society so profoundly homophobic. 

Overall an atmospheric and deeply disturbing book. Really appreciated it. 

Age Rating 15+. Trust me on this. A lot of adult content like suicide, sex, and multiple forms of abuse ranging from physical to sexual. Also touches on alcohol addiction.