✨New Review! ✨

The Bookbinder
By Pip Williams
Publishes: July 25, 2023
Genre: Historical fiction

This is a slower read, but quite enjoyable. It’s really about changing roles, relationships, and dreams. Especially during the world war 1 time period, but even just as we grow older, roles and relationships and dreams transform and are even lost. It’s an emotional read, because it brings to focus that everything is temporary and time is fleeting. Terrible and disappointing and unfair things happen in life and nobody is exempt, but most of these characters still manage to find some joy and keep dreaming of and working hard toward a fulfilling life. It’s also about having compassion and empathy for both strangers and friends in an often cruel, harsh world.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Includes all this and more…
🕰️ historical timeline (1914-1920)
🇬🇧 British setting
🤕 WW1 - war trauma/effects
🪦 death and grief
📕 references/connections to
The Dictionary of Lost Words
(but not really a sequel)
📖 book making, bookish story, & literature references
📝 letters and correspondence
👩👧 central sister relationship
⛴️ houseboat
👭 supportive women friends/found family
💗 coming of age & first love
☝️ single female pov
💵 town vs. gown
🎓 value of education
🙋‍♀️ women’s suffrage

Thank you NetGalley & Penguin Random House!

Twenty-one-year-old Peggy Jones has a childlike twin sister, Maude, who often repeats sentences and phrases that she overhears. Nevertheless, with instruction and supervision, Maude is able to perform certain tasks well. Peggy and Maude work in the bindery of the Oxford University Press. Peggy gathers, folds, and sews pages that her male counterparts will bind and cover. Peggy resents the fact that she is forbidden to read the books that she handles (although she manages to circumvent this prohibition), and she longs to study and expand her horizons.

"The Bookbinder" is a poignant work of historical fiction that is set before, during, and after World War I. Pip Williams vividly captures the excitement of young Englishmen who are eager to serve their country. Little do they realize that they will soon be wallowing in filthy trenches, and many will return home maimed in body and soul. Peggy and Maude live on a small narrowboat, near their good friend, Rosie. Pip Williams's Peggy is bored, frustrated, and jealous of Gwen, a woman born to wealth, who attends Somerville College and, at times, seems to take her privileges for granted.

Williams conveys mood of a country on the brink of a war that might last a brief time or for years. Quite a few women will be recruited to replace the enlisted men at work, and others will volunteer to help out in hospitals and rehabilitation facilities. Once these ladies get a taste of independence, however, a number of them will be reluctant to resume their old routines. As time passes, Peggy realizes that Maude has become capable of caring for herself; romance can be intoxicating as well as constricting; and that with great effort, even someone from the working class can aspire to fulfill her dreams.

Pip Williams has followed up The Dictionary of Lost Words with another delightful and educational historical novel, and as an added plus, The Bookbinder includes nods to its predecessor. Again set at Oxford University Press, The Bookbinder focuses primarily on one of the bindery employees, 21-year-old Peggy Jones, who along with her neuro-diverse twin sister Maude, works in the folding department.

Just as readers learn about the making of the Oxford English Dictionary in The Dictionary of Lost Words as Esme also compiles her collection of “women’s words” omitted from the OED, The Bookbinder teaches about such processes as folding single printed sheets into multiple pages, trimming, hand stitching, and gilding the leather covers as Peggy works at the press, taking home defective books and book fragments, and wishing she could bridge the gap between “town” and “gown,” between Oxford Press worker and university student.

It is also a story of World War I, primarily on the home front. As the story opens, newspapers announce Britain’s 1914 entry into World War I, and men throughout Britain enlist to fight the Germans, including the son of Peggy and Maude’s neighbor’s son and many of the press employees. Tilda, a friend of the young women’s deceased mother, volunteers to assist with medical aid at the front, and Peggy volunteers in Oxford as reader and writer when wounded Belgian and British soldiers arrive and parts of the university are converted to hospital wards.
This is the story of books, strong women, war, Belgian refugees, and slowly changing social order. Readers should not miss Pip Williams’ notes in which she explains her inspiration for the book, her choices of book names for each of the novel’s five sections, and her use of several little-known historic figures as minor characters.

Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books/Random House for an advance reader copy of this excellent new historical novel from Pip Williams.

Shared on GoodReads and Barnes & Noble

I was excited to get an advanced copy of the Bookbinder given how much I loved The Dictionary of Lost Words. As a reader and lover of words that one just hit the spot.

The Bookbinder follows in the footsteps of The Dictionary of Lost Words, and is told from the perspective of Peggy, who works in the women’s wing of the bookbinders. There are some drops from the first book about Esme and her love, Gareth, but ultimately this could be read as a stand alone.

Give the bookbinder focus, there are pages and pages of detail about bookbinding, which I suppose is interesting, if you’re into that kind of thing, but otherwise it honestly did get a little wearing. I found the beginning to drag some with a pretty slow start.

I did appreciate the sisterly dynamic between Peggy and Maude, who seems to be neurodivergent. And things did kinda pick up after the first quarter. I also appreciated Peggy’s desire to read, learn and study.

But… overall this felt long and not as engaging as the first. The plot fell kinda flat and didn’t really keep me interested. I skimmed the last part. Overall recommend to those who love books and want to know more about the bookbinding process or those who enjoy stories set in the WWII backdrop.

This is a gem. Set in Oxford beginning in 1914, it's the story of Peggy, who left school at 12 to join her mother in the book bindery and who has always dreamt of being a student at the University. Now, though, her live is somehow smaller, as her mother has died and she's caring for her differently abled sister Maude, living in their narrowboat, and reading the manuscripts she folds. And then it all changes when WWI begins. A desire to help means a chance meeting with wealthy Sommerville student Gwen but equally importantly with Bastiaan, a seriously wounded Belgian who she spends months reading to. Williams captures how the bindery, Oxford, and Peggy changes as the War progresses not only through Peggy's eyes but also through the eyes of Tilda, her mother's best friend now working with the Red Cross in France (look for two mentions of Vera Britain). And Maude as well, especially thanks to Lotte, a Belgian refuge who refuses to discuss her past. WWI isn't the only horror here, there's also the Spanish flu, which comes home with the soldiers. No spoilers as to what happens to Peggy- readers should have the chance to come into this without preconceptions but know that they will both wipe a tear and smile. And do not miss the afterword. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. A great read.

I really enjoyed “The Dictionary of Lost Words”, so when I saw that Pip Williams was coming up with a new book, I didnt hesitate to request an ARC copy of it. Unfortunately this book was not for me, I couldn’t connect with Peggy, the protagonist and overall it was hard for me to engage with this book. Thank you NetGalley for giving me the opportunity of getting this advance copy.

I had to dnf this one after 3 separate attempts to get into the story. It has some of my buzzwords - twins, books, and WWI. I loved this author's previous book, so I had high hopes. Alas, the story is so incredibly slow and boring that it just didn't hold my interest. In my 3 attempts, I never made it past the 20% mark, and it took FOREVER to get there. Perhaps the story picks up later, but I don't have the patience to find out.

I found this novel to be a little slow and like it kept its characters at a remove, but ultimately I really enjoyed it.

I wanted so much to like The Bookbinder but I just could not get into it. I thought the historical fiction story had a great deal of promise but it was too slow going for me. I just couldn't relate to the main character.

“The Bookbinder” (4..5 stars) by Pip Williams (US pub day 7/25/2023!) is simply great historical fiction, with interesting characters, a completely original setting, and a time period that has not been ‘over-told’. The setting of Oxford, in the University Press, and the jobs, lives, and interactions between the ‘towns’ and ‘gowns’, with the upheaval of WW1 and the influx of Belgium refugees. was all original and compelling. The sense of place is tangible, and characters are unique but relatable, The historical context feels well-researched and authoritative. The story is even better if you’ve read the author’s first novel “The Dictionary of Lost Words” thanks to all the crossover characters and storylines.

Positives: I loved learning something about how books were actually constructed, the bindery and other shops in an early 20th century press. These skills are now artforms that you can take heritage craft classes in, at your local art museum, which is also a win!. I also appreciated that the author created complex, imperfect, and broken characters. The interrelationships between these main characters is nuanced, and as I haven’t forgotten Esme from the companion first book, I won’t forget Peggy or Maude either. Also big positive…it’s not WWII, thank goodness, so so so tired of WWII stories.

Wish List: While necessary for the story, the WWI time period, particularly in Oxford with the influx of Belgian refugees is dark and sometimes dreary. This is not to say that I would have it any other way, but readers be prepared for that atmosphere. The reality of women’s lack of autonomy (vote, bodies, careers etc) is also spot on, but also left me generally irritable as a student of history … I know it doesn’t get significantly better for women even with the small gains Peggy makes in her personal story.

As always, I appreciate the opportunity afforded me to have an early read by netgalley.com and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine. The opinions in this review are expressly those of ButIDigressBookClub and are intended for use by my followers and friends when choosing their next book. #butidigress #butidigressbookclub #TheBookbinder #netgalley #randomhouse @randomhouse #pipwilliamsauthor #pipwilliams

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Publishing Review 7/23/2023

I wanted to like this one so much. From the blurb I read, there was a lot of potential. It just didn't pan out for me. I'm a huge book lover, but even I was dying of boredom through the excruciatingly detailed descriptions of how the pages of books were folded in the binding process. Notice I said descriptions . . . plural. I got it the first time. I gave up after the fifth time the process was recounted. I just cannot go on.

I chose to pick this up because of the title. The story builds slowly but soon you find yourself pulled into life in Oxford during the first world war and the lives of women working in the bookbinders, specifically twin sisters Peggy and Maude. They are the town as opposed to the gowns—and Peggy wants nothing more than the opportunity to attend college but feels herself bound to care for and protect her sister. You feel the sameness of every day folding pages for new books while trying to read the bits and pieces you can glimpse. Everything changes when refugees from Belgium arrive, and she makes a friend with a woman attending college. It is a story of life during that time but also a story of Peggy’s journey to learn about herself and what she wants from life. It is also a story of the love of books and learning. I think my favorite quote addresses the realization that every book means something different to every individual. I loved the characters, the unfolding story and Peggy and Maude and how they realize their own individual dreams. 5 stars

A companion book to Pip Williams' first book about Oxford University Press, The Dictionary of Lost Words, this one deals with the bookbinding girls at the press. The story is set at the beginning of WWI, where we meet twin sisters, Peggy and Maude Jones. The girls began working at the bindery at the age of 12, as had their mother and grandmother before them. Peggy longs to take the time to read the pages that pass through her hands but is constantly reminded that her job is to fold them, not read them. Still, a sizable collection of pages and books have found their way to the narrowboat on the Oxford canal where they live. Peggy has a dream: to someday cross the street and study at Somerville. 'There's something about being told you can't have access that makes you long for a place.'

One of the things holding Peggy back is her sister Maude who is a bit different and needs minding. The other is Peggy's lack of education, having quit school to be with her sister at work. And how would she pay for college? Fortunately for her, her intelligence and drive come to the attention of some well-placed women who have befriended her and she learns there is a possibility she can get a full scholarship to Somerville IF she can pass the entrance exams.

As we know, the history of the world is seldom told through women's experiences but here we have the chance to see what it was like on the home front during WWI. The women not only keep the home fires burning, cooking, cleaning, raising children, but fill many of the jobs that are vacated by the men who have gone off to the war.

In her spare time, Peggy volunteers to read and write letters for some of wounded soldiers in the hospital and there she meets a soldier from Belgium whose face has been badly disfigured. Soon a little romance is blooming between the two but would she be willing to give up her dream for him? And what about Maude?

Any lover of books might enjoy learning more about the process of printing and binding books in those days. So fascinating! And there's also the backdrop of the war and the women's suffragette movement, strangely only meant for some.

I received an arc of this novel from the author and publisher via NetGalley. Many thanks! My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own.

A interesting story about bookbinding with lots of British WWII history.
Overall, a ok read but not one I will want to read again.
Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Just prior to the start of WWI twins Maude and Peggy work in the book bindery at Oxford University Press in the folding room located on the women’s side. As twins they face assumptions that they are the same, but that could not be further from the truth. Maude is a neurodiverse character with echolalia and possibly autism. She has an unrecognized intelligence and the ability to see to the heart of the matter. Peggy thinks she needs to care for Maude and underestimates her. Peggy has dreams of an education.

This is a well researched character driven novel with themes of women’s equality, the effects of war, and the cost of reaching for your dreams. I was not on the edge of my seat. However, I cared so much about the characters and always wanted to go deeper. That’s exactly what Pip Williams did. Like her previous book The Dictionary of Lost Words, this is a great choice for book clubs.

The Bookbinder by Pip Williams

After reading Pip Williams' The Dictionary of Lost Words, which occurs in the same time and place as The Bookbinder, I was better prepared not to expect things to go the way I might hope they would go. We meet Peggy and Maude, twin sisters who work in a book bindery, during 1914. The girls have already been working since their early teens and this is their life, with little to no hope for things to get better for them. Peggy loves books and learning and could have had a different future if she was born to wealth, or even more so, if she was born a man. As she binds books, she actually tries to read them but she is admonished constantly that her job is to bind books, not read them.

Maude marches to a different beat in her head than those around her. She communicates by mimicking what others say and most people just ignore her. As much as Peggy adores Maude, she also feels burdened by her. She will always be responsible for Maude's welfare and she has had to turn down opportunities because Peggy and Maude are a set, you can't have one without the other since Peggy will not abandon Maude.

But, even though Peggy understands everything that Maude communicates, it actually takes other for her to really "listen" to Maude so that she "hears" Maude and understands there is more to Maude than she has come to believe. As the story goes on, I adore Maude and thankfully there are several people who see her as more than just Peggy's helpless sister.

The war is changing London. It's taking away the boys and men and often not giving them back. At the same time, Belgium refugees are changing the Oxford landscape and the lives of the young women. The hospitals are full of critically wounded men and Peggy's volunteer work brings her into the life of a badly injured and disfigured Belgian soldier. The story is full of people in the lives of Peggy and Maude, these are not women who don't have people who care about them. Still, what I might have in mind for Peggy isn't what she wants and that is a theme of this book. Knowing and finding what you want, working for it, and knowing that to obtain that thing can mean giving up other things. And always, women struggle with not having the opportunities of men and poor people struggle with not having the opportunities of those in much better circumstances. This world is not cozy, not with war, persecution, and disease and for many people life is one hardship after another. Life goes on even when not everyone gets to go on with it. I found the business of early bookbinding very interesting and books are are big part of the life of Peggy and Maude.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Ballantine Books, and NetGalley for this ARC.

I really enjoyed this book! I think this would be a perfect read for my high school students and I've already atarted talking it up to some of my avid readers.

Who doesn't love a book with a plucky heroine? Add the poignant drama of WWI and the power of books, and you've got the perfect read for book-lovers. Just as she did in The Dictionary of Lost Words, author Pip Williams deftly blends historical fiction and a modern (go feminists!) perspective to tell a powerful story. Really enjoyed the exploration of classicism and what it's like to be a twin, the technical details of bookbinding, the desire for knowledge. As always, Williams' writing is beautiful on the sentence level and moving on the story level.

Historical fiction isn't always when my favorite, but when it is a book about books, I am ALL in. I loved Williams' last book and this lived up! I also happened to learn a whole lot. Bibliophiles everywhere should give this a shot.

4.5⭐️

Set in 1914 Oxford, England during the Great War, The Bookbinder by Pip Williams revolves around twin sisters twenty-one-year-old Peggy and Maude Jones who live on a narrowboat in Oxford and work in the bindery at the university press – jobs they have held ever since they were twelve years old. Though their job requires them “to bind books, not read them” their late mother, who passed away when they were seventeen and had been an employee of the bindery in her lifetimes instilled a love for reading and books in Peggy, who has sacrificed her dreams of attending Oxford's Somerville College in the interest of caring for her sister, who is a sweet and trusting person who requires special attention. As the war rages on and male employees are conscripted, it is up to the women to keep the press running, taking on additional responsibilities and volunteering to contribute to the war effort in every way possible. The influx of Belgian refugees many of whom take up work in the bindery, her interactions with injured servicemen recovering in the makeshift hospitals where Peggy volunteers and her acquaintance with Gwen a college student, not only enable Peggy to gain perspective on the events occurring around her but also motivate her to make an effort to exact change in her own life. The narrative follows Peggy as she navigates the horrors of war, societal norms and expectations, her responsibilities toward her sister and friends, her work in the bindery, her budding relationship with Bastiaan and her academic aspirations.

Having read and enjoyed The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams, I was eager to read the author’s latest offering. I'm happy to say that with The Bookbinder the author does not disappoint! We meet Gareth and Tilda from The Dictionary of Lost Words and, both of whom have an impact on Peggy’s life and several references to Esme’s book of Women’s Words are made throughout the narrative.

(Please note that both of these books can be read as standalone and you won't face any difficulty in following the narrative of The Bookbinder if you haven't read The Dictionary of Lost Words.)

The characters and the time-period are well-drawn. Peggy is an interesting character. She is not perfect but she is someone you would root for. I adored Maude and her sweet demeanor. Tilda is a powerful character and I wish we had more scenes of her with the sisters. Revolving around themes of war, PTSD, loss, sacrifice family, friendship, and women’s rights, Peggy’s story is set against the backdrop of WWI and its aftermath, the women’s suffrage movement and the Spanish flu. The author does a remarkable job of seamlessly weaving all the threads of this story together into an engrossing narrative. I loved reading about the work culture and the different job descriptions in the bindery/press. As an avid bibliophile with a fondness for collecting hardcover editions, I really enjoyed the descriptions of the steps involved in creating a finished copy.

Please read the Author’s Note wherein she shares details about the historical context of this novel and the real people and events that inspired parts of this story. I enjoyed learning more about the era from a different perspective. I loved that the author included a copy of a page with the names /signatures of actual the bindery staff in 1915.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and look forward to reading more from the author in the future.

Many thanks to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and NetGalley for the much-appreciated digital review copy. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. The Bookbinder is due t be released on July 25, 2023.