The Binding: The most captivating novel of 2019

Binderies full of men who don’t understand what they’re doing – books for trade … We make books – we make beautiful books – out of love.’

knowledge is always a kind of magic,

Gossip is public property.

Where are they now? Dropping to their knees in the streets. In fields. In kitchens. Stopping halfway through a kiss or a fight. Imagine getting it all back. Your daughter’s wedding. The first time you held your son. Bluebells. An ache builds in my throat that has nothing to do with the smoke.

‘Binding and doctoring always used to go together. Easing the pain, easing people into life and out of it.’

Because of the colours. Because the drab wintry world is so bright I can hardly bear it. Because the pain is closer and the taste of soot in my mouth is as solid as any food I’ve ever eaten. Because I can smell roots and things asleep and seeds waiting to grow.

‘There’s a moment when you start a binding, when the binder and the bound become one. You sit and wait for it. You let the room go silent. They’re afraid, they’re always afraid … It’s up to you, to listen, to wait. Then something mysterious happens. Your mind opens to theirs, and they let go. That’s when the memories come. We call that moment the k

I swallowed. That uncanny serenity … It made the hairs on the back of my neck rise. My heart said, wrong, wrong, wrong.

But sometimes I am so glad to see the pain go away that if that were the only person I had ever helped it would still be worth it.’