The Binding - Book Review

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Emmett Farmer is, as his name suggests, a farmer. Not begrudgingly, however. He enjoys the simple life on the family farm, passing the days with the deluge of chores that accompany a successful and fruitful homestead.

Until that is, he is struck ill. After a terrible bout from a mysterious sickness that left him bedridden, even after his recovery, he is no longer up to task when it comes to helping his Father, Mother and younger sister, Alta, run their family livelihood.

When Seredith, the local Binder requests Emmett be her apprentice, he slowly comes to terms with having to leave his family and begin a new adventure down an entirely different path.



Binders, often met with disdain and fear from the townsfolk, are regarded as witches by the ignorant. Which is very, very far from the truth. They possess the skill to remove traumatic memories from anyone who needs to escape a horrible experience and bind those memories into books which are safely stored, away from suspicious and prying eyes, never to be remembered again. Unless that person's book is destroyed, by fire, for example, the memories remain bound and nobody is any the wiser.

When misfortune decides to send Emmett, yet again, down another path, away from Seredith, he has no choice but to follow it and see where it takes him. Only when he stumbles across a book with his name on the spine, does his adventure truly begin, unlocking a story not meant to ink stain pages but to be lived in the real world, in its soul-shattering, heart bursting entirety. It also poses the question; "who in the world is Lucien Darnay and what has he got to do with Emmett's sacrificed memories?"

Set in a time of simplicity, etiquette and all that is proper, with the smallest twist of magic, The Binding%% is bought to life by an astounding cast of complex and fully realised characters, magnificently rich storytelling and mesmerising detail that pulls you within its pages. Bridget Collins has written a novel worthy of every possible literary award there is available to give.

It's been a very long time since I've read a novel of such calibre. A novel that has stolen my heart, captured my soul, left me giddy with love and heartbreak all in one book. When I started [i]The Binding[/i], I did not expect the story to take me where it did. What began as a quaint yet engrossing journey about a young man on a farm who sets off on a new adventure, suddenly became a breathless and heady dive into a whole other tale my heart has yet to recover from.

Thank the heavens Binders aren't real for this is one novel I never want to forget. I more than urge you to get a copy of your own and to experience this enchanting adventure for yourself.%%

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