#WWWWednesday – 6th December 2023

whatcathyreadnext2 Comments

WWWWednesdays

Hosted by Taking on a World of Words, this meme is all about the three Ws:

  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you’ll read next?

Why not join in too?  Leave a comment with your link at Taking on a World of Words and then go blog hopping!

Currently reading

A book from my TBR pile and for my personal Backlist Burrow reading challenge.

The Leftover WomanThe Leftover Woman by Jean Kwok (Viper)

Yasmine Yang thought her daughter was dead at birth. But five years after she was taken from her arms, she learns that her controlling husband sent the baby to America to be adopted, a casualty of China’s one-child-policy. Fleeing her rural Chinese village, Jasmine arrives in New York City with nothing except a desperate need to find her daughter. But with her husband on her trail, the clock is ticking, and she’s forced to make increasingly risky decisions if she ever hopes to be reunited with her child.

Meanwhile, Rebecca Whitney seems to have it a high-powered career, a beautiful home, a handsome husband and an adopted Chinese daughter she adores. But when an industry scandal threatens to jeopardise not only Rebecca’s job but her marriage, this perfect world begins to crumble.

Two women in a divided city, separated by wealth and culture, yet bound together by their love for the same child. And when they finally meet, their lives will never be the same again…

The Heart's Invisible FuriesThe Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne (Transworld)

Cyril Avery is not a real Avery. At least, that’s what his parents make sure to remind him. Adopted as a baby, he feels more and more disconnected with the family that treats him more as a curious pet, rather than a beloved son.

So, as a young adult, Cyril decides to embark on a quest to find his place in the world. Sometimes misguided and often in the wrong place at the wrong time, life has dealt him a difficult hand but Cyril is resolute that he can change things, and find the courage to be himself.

And in doing so, his story will come across that of Catherine Goggin, a young, pregnant woman finding herself alone and isolated at only sixteen. There is a place in the world for both of them, and Cyril is determined to find it.

Recently finished

The Binding by Bridget Collins (The Borough Press)

The Forgotten Letters of Esther Durrant by Kayte Nunn (Orion)

What Cathy (will) Read Next

Perfume RiverPerfume River by Robert Olen Butler (No Exit)

Robert Quinlan and his wife Darla teach at Florida State University. Their marriage, forged in the fervor of anti-Vietnam-war protests, now bears the fractures of time, with the couple trapped in an existence of morning coffee and solitary jogging and separate offices. For Robert and Darla, the cracks remain below the surface, whereas the divisions in Robert’s own family are more apparent: he has almost no relationship with his brother Jimmy, who became estranged from the family as the Vietnam War intensified.

William Quinlan, Robert and Jimmy’s father, a veteran of World War II, is coming to the end of his life, and aftershocks of war ripple across all their lives once again when Jimmy refuses to appear at his father’s bedside.

And a disturbed homeless man whom Robert at first takes to be a fellow Vietnam veteran turns out to have a devastating impact not just on Robert, but on his entire family.

#BookReview The Binding by Bridget Collins

whatcathyreadnext5 Comments

About the Book

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 hand-craft 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. Then one day Emmett makes an astonishing discovery: one of them has his name on it.

Format: Hardback (448 pages) Publisher: The Borough Press
Publication date: 10th January 2019 Genre: Historical Fiction, Fantasy

Find The Binding on Goodreads

Purchase links 
Bookshop.org 
Disclosure: If you buy a book via the above link, I may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookshops

Hive | Amazon UK 
Links provided for convenience only, not as part of an affiliate programme

My Review

Although I’m not often drawn to books with a fantasy element, the inventive premise that unpleasant memories can be erased by being bound within the pages of a book kept me captivated for the first section of the story. The book is set in an undisclosed period that at times, with its talk of persecution of bookbinders, conjures up the feel of 17th century England and at other times seems set much later, perhaps in the 19th century. It didn’t really matter because both had a great sense of atmosphere.

I liked the way, in this imagined world, books are a not just a repository of memories but also become manifestations of power – as a means to erase evidence of abuse or crime, for example – or as a way to exercise control. They are also items of value, collected or traded by wealthy individuals. Playfully, in this world novels are regarded as ‘fake’. As one character observes, ‘They’re not real books. They’re written, like magazines. They’re not actual people, or actual memories. They’re invented.‘ Another character wonders who would write a novel: ‘People who enjoy imagining misery, I suppose. People who have no scruples about dishonesty. People who can spend days writing a long sad lie without going insane.’ Ironically, for some people bound books have become a source of titillation with readers meeting in secret to consume the dreadful experiences of others. Some are even copied and openly traded.

All this was brilliant but I confess as the plot became more of a romance – and a young adult romance at that – with a bit of mystery thrown in, I began to lose interest especially as this is a long book and events move quite slowly.

The Binding is a dark story in places with scenes that may be upsetting for some readers. I liked that it ended on a hopeful note even if I wasn’t completely engaged by the romantic storyline. However, the author is clearly a great storyteller and there are some brilliantly eccentric secondary characters who introduce elements of menace, magic or humour to the storyline.

I received a digital review copy courtesy of The Borough Press via NetGalley.

In three words: Imaginative, atmospheric, romantic

About the Author

Bridget Collins trained as an actor at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art after reading English at King’s College, Cambridge. She is the author of seven acclaimed books for young adults and has had two plays produced, one at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The Binding is her first adult novel. (Photo: Goodreads author page)

Connect with Bridget
Website | Twitter