The Binding

 Bridget Collins wrote The Binding, a novel about book binding. I was drawn to the book by it's beautiful cover. This is an alternate universe historical fiction novel set in the 1850's. Emmet Farmer lives with his parents and little sister on a farm. Emmet has health problems and unable to keep up with his chores so he is sent to a book binder named Seredith to learn the trade of book binding. In this alternate universe books are forbidden to the general public. Binders are still needed because book binders have the ability, if the customer approves, to wipe out a person's memory and put it in a book which is then held in storage. If you want to rid yourself of a traumatic memory you visit a book binder. You sit in a chair and agree to the binding. The book binder lays his hands on your shoulders. Your memory goes into the book binder who writes it all down, binds the book, and puts it in storage. That is how things are supposed to work. Of course there is corruption. Books are stolen from storage and secrets are shared with a person who paid for the book. Wealthy landowners take advantage of a servant girl, send her to a book binder to erase the memory of her assault, and do the same thing again next week. The whole book is about Emmet coming to understand all this. I thought the plot was very creative and the writing was good.