I had the pleasure of studying abroad at Oxford University last summer, so reading The Bookbinder by Pip Williams took me back to my favorite place in the world. Following women living in the suburb of Jericho and working at the Oxford University Press, this book was such a delight. I marveled at the author's perfect lifelike descriptions of the campus and town, and loved the strong friendships between the female characters in this book. This novel cemented Pip Williams as an auto-read author for me.

This lovely story takes place during WWI (finally not WWII!) in Jericho which is apparently the town right next to Oxford where there are the Gowns and the Towns (the students and the townies). The novel focuses on Peggy, an orphaned young women who is responsible for her neurodivergent identical twin as they work daily in the book bindery. Peggy longs to be a student at Oxford and reads all she can – she is surrounded by books but is technically not allowed to read them (at least while at work). As the war goes on, Belgian refugees come to her town, some women come to help at the bindery and some to the hospital where Peggy volunteers (and slowly falls in love with one of them). The novel focuses on the losses and injuries of war (and how it changes people and their microcosmic world), the yearning of women for more freedom at a time when they were only allowed a taste, and love – the love of family as well as romantic love.

Honestly, I almost DNFed this book at about 22% and I am sooo very glad I didn’t – it’s quite beautifully written and I loved the characters and the story. It just started out so very slow and took quite a bit of time to really get into. But Peggy’s growth was really fun to watch and her first love was sweet. I enjoyed meeting and getting to know the other characters as well and I am so glad I stuck with this book, it was really an enjoyable read in the end.

This is 4.25 stars.

Thanks you NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the opportunity to review

DNFed at 30%.

I really wanted to like this and it definitly wasn't a bad book, but it just wasn't for me. I read books for engaging plots, and this just didn't have that. The relationship between Maude and Peggy was the only part that I found interesting, but it simply wasn't enough to carry a whole book. Williams did a good job with the setting and took full advantage of writing from Peggy's POV, giving not only Peggy, but all the characters a lot of dimension. However, 30% in, the story still didn't feel like it was going anywhere and I didn't care enough about Peggy to keep reading.

This is definitly a book that can find a large audience--due to its good writing and close examination of sisterly bonds--but unfortunately, I'm not part of it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for providing me with an ARC!

I loved her first book, but sadly this latest made me irritated as I found it repetitive and flat. The characters all seemed the same to me, and I couldn’t connect to the material.

Pip Williams writes intriguing historical novels. Not a sequel, but in the same world and with a few of the same characters as The Dictionary of Lost Words, this novel is about Peggy & Maude, twin sisters who work for a book bindery in Oxford. WWI has begun and things start to change as many young men quit their jobs to join the army and the women are left to carry on. Surrounded by books in the bindery but not supposed to read them is something that Peggy especially finds very frustrating. Definitely a member of the 'town' in Oxford (vs. the students or 'gown') she longs to study at the woman's college, Somerville but feels as if that ambition is not going to happen, especially since Peggy promised her mother - as she was dying - to take care of her sister. Maude looks just like her sister, but she looks at the world quite differently. Today we would probably assume that she was on the autism spectrum. Maude not only is quite content working in the bindery, but the art of folding paper is something that she finds quite soothing.
As the war continues a number of Belgian refugees come to Oxford. One of them, Bastiaan, is in the hospital for a long time and Peggy comes to know him when her volunteer work takes her to his hospital. The long years of WWI affect everyone in Britain and Peggy, Maude and many others live through these years finding that their jobs and lives change and mourn those who are killed and injured in the war. This was another interesting book by Williams, covering a subject that is not that familiar and with characters that you get quite caught up with.

My expectations were probably too high as I approached this book, as I loved the author's previous novel, The Dictionary of Lost Words. I really liked the premise, but I'm not a huge historical fiction fan especially WWI or WW2 ) so this one ended up being just ok for me. The writing and character development are strong, so I have no doubt that The Bookbinder will hit just right for the right readers.

I will definitely read more from this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for an eARC in exchange for an honest opinion.

The Bookbinder is a wonderful written story.
A story of sisters and self discovery. A great historical fiction. Set in WW1 and of all paces, a book bindery!
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

3.5/5 stars! I received an ARC from Affirm Press and Pip Williams via NetGalley.

I'm a multi-genre reader, but historical fiction is a genre I rarely find myself in. The world and character building in this book were beautiful. I felt like I was actually in the buildings and on the boat. I felt like I knew the characters like I know my close friends. The romance subplot was great. However, I did feel like the story moved quite slowly. Sometimes, I found myself waiting for something interesting to happen that would make me want to keep reading. It took me a while to get through this read as I kept losing interest and putting it down for a break.

I do love Pip Williams' writing and the worlds she creates. With a few more action pieces added in, I think this book could have easily been 5 stars.

A young woman who works in a bindery finds the courage to pursue her dreams during WWI while living with her autistic sister on a narrowboat in Oxford. Still grieving from the loss of her mother and burdened by her promise to care for her sister, Peg is more interested in reading books than binding them.

The book is written beautifully with well-developed characters and detailed history which is well integrated into the characters’ lived. I especially enjoyed two aspects of this story - Peg’s relationship with her sister, who is less dependent on Peg than she originally appears and Peg’s personal growth as she wrestles with her restrictions as a working class woman while her interest in literature is more aligned with the privileges afforded to women of a higher class. It is Peg’s relationships that help her to recognize her own needs and pursue a life that has meaning for her.

My only qualm with this book is that some of the situational descriptions could be more fleshed out. Even after rereading some parts, I was uncertain of what the author was trying to convey.

I highly recommend this book to lovers of historical fiction and to those who enjoy a thoughtful and engaging read.

Thank you to the publisher for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 - I had a hard time rating this book. There were parts that I really liked and parts that I wanted to hurry up. It takes place during WWI and centers around a book bindery (I loved this aspect of it) and the distance between the Towns and Gowns. There were many unique aspects to this book and I think that overall it was an interesting read.

Somehow this marvelous book ended up hiding other books when by all rights it should have just floated to the top of the pile! Written by the author of The Dictionary of Lost Words, The Bookbinder is a wonderful read. Set in England as World War I begins to catch up men in the frenzy of enlisting and women having to, or rather finally being able to step into roles previous male only roles, The Bookbinder is the beautifully written story of a diverse cast of characters unlike most other books. Peggy and Maude are identical twins....but beneath the surface nothing could be more different. Both girls are bookbinders for the university press. But Maude is special in an indescribable way, and since the death of their mother it has been Peggy who looks out for Maude. As news of the horrors of war spread, the town of Jericho learns that it will be hosting Belgium refugees. The arrival of these refuges brings many changes to Peg and Maude's lives and they lose some of those most dear to them, in various ways all caused by war.

The Bookbinder is an inspiring read; inspired by the Belgian refugees, returning soldiers, and the new opportunities provided by men going to war, the girls learn to help others while also learning about themselves. It's an amazing book, certainly on a par with The Dictionary of Lost Words, if not more. It made me want to disappear from sight and read it straight through! Bravo!

Opportunities for women and the uneducated lower class are limited or nonexistent in England during WWI. This is the story of the beginnings of an awareness amongst these groups that perhaps the future could be different for them. The book bindery at Oxford provides work for girls and women to do the tedious work of folding the large printed sheets into the pages to be bound into books. Peggy is one of those workers who gave up her dream of studying at Oxford to care for her special needs twin sister. The novel touches on the terrible toll the war took on not only the men who fought, were maimed, or who died, but on the women who had to nurse the injured, bear the loss of sons and husbands, and fill the jobs the men left behind. The right to vote movement is also begun during this time. The information on the bookbinding process was very interesting as was the way universities admitted students and gave degrees to only the men who finished the course of study.

Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books/Penguin Random House for the ARC to read and review.

This is a very well researched books set in World War I. I loved all the different tales from the different women. The writing was lovely and I look forward to more books from this author.

The Bookbinder is historical fiction that covers the war years 1914 – 1920 in England. As the men enlist, women step in to fill jobs that were previously solely in the male domain. Women are also called upon to serve in hospitals, both locally and on the battlefield.

This novel follows several of those women: Working class Peggy who loves to read and dreams of one day attending nearby Somerville College, one of Oxford’s women’s colleges; Peggy’s twin sister, Maude, who is content to work at the Oxford Press bindery; upper-class Gwen who is currently enrolled at Somerville but is at best a lackadaisical student; Tilda who goes to work in a field hospital in France and reports on the carnage around her; and Lotte, a Belgian refugee who fled to England after the German massacre at Louvain. There is another Belgian from Louvain, Bastiaan, who was seriously wounded in the battle there and has come to England to recuperate. Peggy is assigned to care for him at the local makeshift hospital and their relationship gradually changes from patient/caregiver to friends to lovers.

Over the course of the novel, Peggy must make several significant decisions about her future. Besides the war, there are many historical issues that come up: women’s suffrage; class differences in England; the influenza epidemic of 1918.

The writing is beautifully detailed and well-researched. The characters are credible, even the secondary characters. An enjoyable read.

Twins Peggy and Maude live on a small boat and work at the bookbindery just outside of Oxford. Peggy is smart and has dreams of attending University one day, but Maude is content with life as it is. Peggy feels obligated to care for Maude, especially after the loss of their mother and concludes that this is the life she has been given. But as WWI rages in Europe, refugees from Belgium pour into their little town. Peggy spends her extra time at the hospital, reading and writing for the soldiers, eventually forming a friendship with one in particular. Through her work at the hospital, opportunities arise for Peggy to study and a group of supportive women encourage her to try, as does her soldier friend, Bastiaan.

Set during the backdrop of WWI, this novel brings in the difficulties women faced and the opportunities that were not open to them. It addresses the challenges that war brought to small towns and eventually the influenza epidemic that the soldiers brought back with them. At the heart of the story is the pursuit of knowledge and who has access to knowledge and who can contribute to knowledge. Through Peggy and Maude, the women from bookbindery, refugees like Lotte, and other supporting characters , we get a glimpse into the lives of women who are trying to find their place and access their dreams.

I loved the Dictionary of Lost Words and several of the characters from that novel return in this one. To be clear, this is not a sequel. I loved Maude's character more than Peggy's. It took me awhile to get into this one as the author uses great detail to set up the characters, the setting and details of life during that time. It's definitely a novel to be savored as you find yourself immersed in the characters and their lives.

Thank you to Random House, Ballantine Books and Netgalley for an early review copy of this novel. The Bookbinder hits the shelves on 7/25/2023.

Sisters Peggy and Maude work for Oxford University Press as bookbinders, sewing the pages together for books. It's the only life they have ever envisioned for themselves, being born to a single mother (who was also a book binder) and having no other prospects. Maude is written as autistic and echolaliac. Peggy is supposed to be her foil as an intellectual, and as Maude's caregiver. But as the Great War begins and progresses, Peggy has to deal with classism, studies to try to earn a place as a student at Oxford, falls in love with a Belgian refugee, and has to decide between a life of books and thinking and writing and a life of children and housewifing. Maude makes friends apart from Peggy and shows Peggy that she can live more independently with the help of neighbors. I appreciate that it's about women having ambition and going for what they want, but there are looming problems with the book. I really didn't like Williams's book The Dictionary of Lost Words, and I don't like this one much either, because Maude is used as what's called a narrative prosthesis, something that disabled characters often are--she's a device upon which to hang the story of the able-bodied people in the story, namely Peggy. Maude is also an example of inspiration porn, which is when an author shows the accomplishments of a disabled person as a great triumph or rare event, all to make the non-disabled feel inspired. People who like historical fiction about this time period and about women will probably like this, but if you care anything about the portrayal of disability, give it a miss.

3/5 stars! It takes a lot to draw me into a historical fiction novel and this book had the makings of an awesome story, but didn't deliver for me. It felt shallow and like there were so many missed opportunities to make this book better. It had an important message but didn't do enough to make the story feel real to me as a reader.

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review

Special thanks to Randomhouse Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

I read Pip Williams previous book The Dictionary of Lost Words so I really wanted to read this book..

The themes are war, poverty, suffering, and ambition, after all it is a success story and who can't read a book and be happy for someone else's dreams and striving for them.

This book takes place in early 1900's and it's about twin sisters, Peggy and Maude both bookbinding. Maude was labeled "slow" back then, she was more on the autistic side I'd say Peggy had big dreams and felt she had to take care of her sister. It was during a time of disease, war, women taking on men's roles because they were sick, injured, fighting and it's a book of suffering where some people don't make it at all through, some people just survive, and some whom achieve their dreams!

I found the 1st half to be slow while the second half picks up. I'd recommend this book. Bookbinding isn't as exciting as lost words but it still deserves 4 stars!

Lovers of “The Dictionary of Lost Words” will be so happy that “The Bookbinder” is just as good: perhaps even better. Set during the years of World War I, the novel covers the lives of Peggy Jones and her twin Maude, bookbinders in Oxford, right across the quad from Sommerville College where Peggy’s longs to go.

Peggy narrates the story, in the voice of so many women who hoped for more than a circumscribed life of drudgery. Her mother was also a bookbinder who was allowed to take damaged books home, sharing her love of reading with her daughters. They live in a tiny houseboat, and when their mother dies she charges Peggy with caring for Maude who appears to be autistic. Peggy has embraced that future.

But the war gives her opportunities to mix with people of different classes and nationalities. The closest Oxford college—a women’s college, of course—is taken over for a hospital, and there Peggy will meet people who open doors for her. In that classist world, just meeting people of a different class means knowledge and opportunity.

There are a few spots in the novel when you think it will fall into predictability, but don’t worry, it won’t. I didn’t know how close British soldiers came to rebelling against indifferent officers sending them to slaughter. You’ll learn a lot from this novel, not only about the art of bookbinding, but about the time period and women’s aspirations. Wonderful.

Gratitude to the publisher and NetGalley for asking me to read and review "The Bookbinder."

This absolutely gorgeous, WWI-set, historical fiction title is one to savor and read at a leisurely pace. At 448 pages in length, it is one that requires the reader’s time.

Oxford, England-right before war (WWI) breaks out. Two sisters (twins), Peggy and Maude, live on a narrowboat on a canal. They work at the Oxford University Press putting together the books that will one day be read. The job is tedious but, in compensation, Peggy takes home any books with faults, adding to an already large home library.

Maude has an undiagnosed condition that seems somewhat like what today would be called autism. She requires much supervision from Peggy as the story opens. Maude seems content to live in the moment while Peggy is aware of the academic life in Oxford and deeply wishes that she could be part of it.

Oxford-war has begun. A group of Belgian refugees come to work at the press; each has her own backstory. Much attention is given to Lotte, someone who bonds with Maude. Wounded soldiers also come to town and Peggy begins to read to them.

This is how the novel begins; it slowly entrances the reader who wants to spend time in this community and its wide range of characters. There are those who live on the water, those who work in publishing, Gwen (who has the life that Peggy seems to want), the Belgians and many others. Spending time with all of them is a wonderful experience.

Highly recommended to historical fiction readers. They will want to know how the lives of the characters unfold in friendship, family, work and love.

As an aside, those who are interested in how books were actually made in the days long before a digital world, will learn a great deal here. These details enhanced the reader’s ability to enter the characters’ worlds.

Note that the author has written one previous novel; readers may well want to look for that one as well.

Here is what Library Journal concluded in a starred review:

VERDICT Highly recommended for readers who enjoy historical fiction about strong women, like the works of Kate Quinn, Beatriz Williams, and Laura Willig.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for this title. All opinions are my own.