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.

We follow Peggy and her twin sister, Maude, as they work in a bindery during World War I.

I haven't read The Dictionary of Lost Words, but it's on my list, and when I saw this book by the same author, I jumped to read it.  I liked what the book was trying to do. It was extremely well researched and gave an atypical viewpoint from women and refugees during the war.  It tried to bring to light that all should have access to knowledge and power (voting), and it should not be given to only selective a few. With that being said, I was really disappointed. This book moved at a snail's pace.  It was so slow, I was wondering if anything was actually happening at all, and it made it really difficult to get through.  I almost didn't finish it, but I kept reading on hoping something of significance would eventually happen. It was hard to connect to any of the characters, and Peggy was sometimes selfish and unlikable.  The main points were lost behind drawn-out scenes and unnecessary dialogue. Others seemed to have really enjoyed this book, though, so it might be worth it to give it a shot if you enjoy historical fiction like I do.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I loved Pip Williams' The Bookbinder. I loved every single page of it and recommended it to everyone for a solid month. What an exceptional story about the Oxford University Press and the women who became the first graduates of Oxford! Williams gives us the story of a young woman trapped by circumstance--poverty, familial responsibilities, gender--and ultimately offers us a triumphant story of survival leading to accomplishment. This book is fabulous and everyone should read it.

NOTE: I was given early access to this book in exchange for writing an impartial review. Thank you netgalley and Penguin Random House. Publication Date: July 25, 2023.

If I had to list the major themes explored in this book, I would name war, family, feminism, class, and ambition. And for pace, I'd say quite a slow first half, with a much faster-paced second half. Awarded four stars. Just.

I absolutely adored Pip Williams's first book, THE DICTIONARY OF LOST WORDS, and assumed this one would be similar; that is, an interesting story built around the quirky and obscure world of bookbinding. But not so.

In fact, the descriptions of bookbinding included make it sound like tedious work -- not nearly as compelling as the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary recounted in her first book. Instead, what made this book interesting to me was its timing: the small English town of Oxford during the years of World War I (1914-18), the growing suffragette movement, the Spanish Flu, and the class struggle between "Town" and "Gown" (the working class people of Oxford vs. the more privileged students enrolled at the University).

At the center of the novel are twin orphans Peggy and Maude, young women supporting themselves by working in the University's publishing house. Today Maude would likely be diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum, though in 1915, she was simply called "special". While the twins love each other deeply, Peggy has the added burden of feeling responsible for Maude and her future. And that makes Peggy feel she will be unable to realize her own individual dreams. Because, despite her humble origins, Peggy is an avid reader, hungry for learning, and desperate to cross the divide and actually ATTEND Oxford University.

The obstacles are considerable: class prejudice, restricted access to study materials, learning to read Ancient Greek, cost, and challenging entrance exams. In addition to the realities of life around her. The war means millions of men are enlisting, requiring women to fill their old jobs. Tens of thousands of wounded soldiers are returned home, requiring long-term nursing care and attention. And the arrival of the deadly Flu Epidemic means the need for even more volunteers to support both the ill and their families.

The main reason I finally awarded the book four stars is because of how skillfully the author blends all these elements into a believable story about the nature of human beings. All of characters weather the same events. But their responses and fates differ. Some don't survive at all. Others survive but remain forever altered. And a smaller number seize the opportunities that exist in a shifting world to transform their own lives. Those who fare the best are the ones who find the strength they need by offering support and care to those they love.

Her job may be to bind the books, but what if she wants more?

Set in Oxford, England against the backdrop of World War I, the Spanish Flu and the suffragette fight for the vote, this novel follows the young-adult life of Peggy who, along with her twin sister Maude, work at the Oxford University Press as “bindery girls,” responsible for folding and binding the pages of books and manuscripts published and reproduced by the University. Though born to a “town” mother, Peggy longs for the academic life of a “gown,” but is hampered by her class status and her caregiving obligations to her sister. But when war breaks out, new opportunities arise and Peggy must face not just the horrors of war but the toughest of decisions - to follow her dreams or her heart. I haven’t read much World War I fiction, barring the traumatizing All Quiet On the Western Front, but I really enjoyed this book. Peggy is not a perfect protagonist, but you can’t help but root for her at (almost) every turn. The supporting characters are all substantive and well-drawn and I found myself just as invested in their stories. Readers of Williams’ first book, The Dictionary of Lost Words, will also find some character cameos here. Overall, this was an enjoyable, educational historical fiction novel focused on telling the often untold stories of the women and girls left behind in war during a time of societal change.

Pub Date: 8/1/23
Review Date: To be posted 7/18/23
eARC received from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Maragaret (Peggy) and Maude are twin sisters who live on a boat and work in the local bookbindery in Jericho. Maude has some issues that are never really diagnosed and Peggy is very protective of her. This was a very slow read for me because it was not an exciting book. I did enjoy the detailed history of bookbinding as well as the mentioning of books and authors that I was familiar with. World War I begins and it causes a lot of changes in their lives. Overall, I did enjoy this book.

Thank you NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the ARC of this very interesting book.

I loved every word of this book and wanted to stay with Peggy and her story much longer. This is a companion novel to Williams's book "The Dictionary of Lost Words", which was also excellent, but this story of Peggy and her twin Maude, who live in Oxford and work at a bookbindery, completely transported me to 1914 Britain and the struggle of a young woman who wants more out of life than she thinks she's allowed to reach for, set against a backdrop of the horrors of The Great War. Peggy has always loved books and reading; she's ambitious and smart, but feels equal parts love and resentment towards her twin sister Maude, who is vulnerable and special and needs Peggy to watch out for her. Their circle of loved ones, their home on the houseboat Calliope, the bookbindery - all of these elements of the book are vividly and lovingly depicted. The real star of the story, though, is Peggy's growth and the way she blossoms through both triumphs and setbacks. Williams weaves historical details about everything from the suffragette movement to field hospitals in France to the Belgian refugees who fled to Britain, as well as fascinating details of bookbinding. I can't wait for more from this author. Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group, and Ballantine Books for a digital review copy.

In "The Bookbinder," Pip Williams takes us on a captivating journey through history, bringing women's experiences during World War I to life. Set in Oxford, the novel follows twin sisters, Peggy and Maude as they navigate the changing world around them. Williams expertly portrays the challenges faced by women during this time, highlighting their determination and resilience. As the war unfolds, Peggy's desire for knowledge and love ignites, urging her to break free from societal expectations. Williams weaves a compelling tale that sheds light on the power of education and the pursuit of truth.

With her beautifully descriptive prose, Williams transports readers to the streets of Oxford, painting a vivid picture of the bindery and the bustling university press. The contrast between Peggy's longing to expand her horizons and Maude's contentment with her current life adds depth to the story. As the sisters encounter refugees from war-torn Belgium, the narrative takes an unexpected turn, testing their relationships and challenging their beliefs. Williams expertly explores the themes of education, knowledge, and the sacrifices one must make in the face of war.

"The Bookbinder" is a poignant and thought-provoking novel that resonates long after the final page. Williams continues to shine a light on women's lives in the early 1900s, reminding us of their struggles and triumphs. While I thoroughly enjoyed "The Dictionary of Lost Words," this follow-up exceeded my expectations. It is a testament to Williams' ability to breathe life into historical settings and create relatable, inspiring characters. I am grateful to live in an era that values and empowers women, and "The Bookbinder" serves as a reminder of our progress. I highly recommend this book to anyone seeking a captivating and meaningful read.

Thanks to Random House Publishing Group- Ballantine and Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest Feedback.