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The Binding
- Narrated by: Carl Prekopp
- Length: 15 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Genre Fiction
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Summary
Imagine you could erase your grief.
Imagine you could forget your pain.
Imagine you could hide a secret.
Forever.
Emmett Farmer is working in the fields when a letter arrives summoning him to begin an apprenticeship. He will work for a Bookbinder, a vocation that arouses fear, superstition and prejudice - but one neither he nor his parents can afford to refuse.
He will learn to handcraft beautiful volumes, and within each he will capture something unique and extraordinary: a memory. If there’s something you want to forget, he can help. If there’s something you need to erase, he can assist. Your past will be stored safely in a book, and you will never remember your secret, however terrible.
In a vault under his mentor’s workshop, row upon row of books - and memories - are meticulously stored and recorded.
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The Binding is an unforgettable, magical novel: a boundary-defying love story and a unique literary event.
Critic reviews
"The Binding is a dark chocolate slice of cake with a surprising, satisfying seam of raspberry running through it. It is a rich, gothic entertainment that explores what books have trapped in them and reminds us of the power of story telling. Spellbinding." (Tracy Chevalier)
"Pure magic. The kind of immersive storytelling that makes you forget your own name. I wish I had written it." (Erin Kelly, author of He Said/She Said)
"Truly spellbinding...readers will sink gratefully into the pleasures of its pages.... Like a wonderful meal made from a few simple ingredients: the feeling in your chest when you hold someone in your arms for the first time; the sight of a host of bluebells. In recent years, the state of the world has threatened to make us forget the simple pleasures of kisses and bluebells and thick novels that tell stories of heartbreak. Here is a book to help us remember." (Guardian)
What listeners say about The Binding
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Emma C
- 15-02-19
One of my best listens of 2019
If I had read this, I would certainly have cheated and skipped to the end. I was rapt all the way through. This is one of those rare stories that you cannot wait to finish but then mourn reaching the end. Thank you Bridget Collins, I adored The Binding. I look forward to more of you.
Carl Prekopp's narration and care of the distinctive voices of Bridget Collins's characters and their world was utterly delightful. Thank you Mr. Prekopp for your stunning delivery, I would love to hear more of your narration.
I will be purchasing a hard copy of this because I wish to make a home for The Binding in my bookcase of forever stories.
73 people found this helpful
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- Orsolya Gyorfi
- 19-01-19
Magical
As a bookbinder by trade, this stands close to my heart. There IS a kind of magic in binding a book.. The details described in tools and processes were a joy to recognise. The story itself is subtle and passionate and gentle and addictive and strong and brilliant...! It beautifully weaved together threads of love and craft and mystery and the narrators' voice transferred it all perfectly. I cannot praise it enough. I will be looking out for more of both Collins' and Prekopps' works.
71 people found this helpful
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- Jude
- 06-07-19
Disappointing
A good and intriguing idea, but the execution was so drawn out and laboured. Very dodgy historical period placing, sort of vaguely Victorian but then hinting at 18 century. Cloaks are worn at the beginning, later men have coats... Modern turns of phrase too. All middle class evil and depraved. very repetitious at times. Lots of ragged windblown sky's and sleet driving into faces. Yawn
43 people found this helpful
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- S J Russell
- 09-02-19
Mesmerising, intriguing and utterly beautiful
I fell a little bit in love with this book. It is beautifully written, the plot is entrancing and the narration simply marvelous. To say that the characters were brought to life just doesn't do it justice. I wish I could have my memory of the book bound just so i could experience it again for the first time.
42 people found this helpful
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- Nick Morris
- 04-02-19
Takes a fantastic turn you never see coming!!
great read, felt almost like 2 different books as the plot is going down one path and before you even realise your stood at the end of Path no 2!! Loved every second and couldn't get through it fast enough.
Fantastic narration brought an amazing story even further to life
27 people found this helpful
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- DEN
- 17-01-19
Both story and narration are absolutely fantastic!
Both story and narration are absolutely fantastic! Enjoyed it so much. Please don’t be put off by the length. I’ll definitely listen again
25 people found this helpful
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- Frances Houghton
- 14-04-20
Disappointing for me
I was very keen to read this book but it was very dark and dreary. I waited and waited for it to get going but it never took off for me. The basic story of homosexuality and members of the aristocracy abusing very young female staff then having their memories erased was miserable from start to finish. Another wasted credit.
20 people found this helpful
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- Marg
- 01-02-19
Exceptional... Stunning.. A reread again and again
I was unprepared (why so cheap?) for such a book. Poetry turned into a story which magically bound me to its pages. I was surprised by the gentleness, the passion and the amazing word skill of this author.
Read it please.. You won't be disappointed, I'm starting again
20 people found this helpful
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- Tiina
- 15-01-19
amazing, breath taking, heart wrenching
The language is so beautiful, but not too flourished. Just the right kind of magic to add to the story. The plot gets darker than you might think at first. But it is well worth a few uneasy nights to get through this.
29 people found this helpful
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- A Smithy
- 11-02-19
Fine, if overly long
I love the concept and the first half of the novel is incredibly strong. From there I feel the novel began to amble too much. Characters who play an important part are brushed over while other parts are stretched too far.
13 people found this helpful
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- Jennifer
- 03-08-21
One very special book
It took a few hours, but eventually this book drew me in. By that time, I couldn’t stop listening. Beautiful. Just beautiful.
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- Sharon
- 21-06-21
spellbinding!
I have to admit that when I first started this, I wondered where it was going for the main character. Then in part 2, it took me a little while to see that it was recounting events that had happened before part 1, and that at least one person's memory had been wiped. In part 3 -- clarity! I immediately listened to it again so as to gain complete understanding.
I liked the 2 main characters once I understood them. Their relationship and the way society sees and treats them transcends space and time -- you could plonk these 2 down into nearly any small town.
The narration was actually rather good. The narrator portrayed solemness, pain, and joy all in appropriate measures. And I loved the northern English accent!
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- Bel
- 08-10-20
Spellbinding
A beautiful book. I loved it. What imagination, what pictures, and what a wonderful love story.
Add to this, that it was absolutely beautifully narrated, and you have a book that can be recommended to anyone.
A perfect escape from today's world into a wholly different world.
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- Karen McCarthy / Brenda Dass
- 27-05-20
Breathtakingly beautiful
What a stunning book and stunning performance. I am an avid Audible listener and I haven’t been this absorbed and mesmerized in ages. Highly recommended.
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- Anonymous User
- 26-06-19
If you wished for another Wuthering Heights
The Binding transports you to the marshes of Yorkshire and binds you to the characters as if you were written into the story along with them. It has the spacious quality of a Max Richter piece of music and the melancholy of a modern Gothic masterpiece.
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- Angela
- 16-03-19
Brilliant
An exceptional story, written with perfect descriptions that painted a vivid picture. Could not put the book down.
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- Tans
- 21-08-19
Different
I felt that the story was wonderfully different to what I had expected and similar in ways to "The watchmaker of Filigree Street" by Natasha Pulley.
The narration was incredible- Prekopp did an outstanding job.
I just felt a bit underwhelmed by the ending.