The Bind

Overview

A book about books, The Bind centers on brother Victor and Guy Egret, running and ruining the prestigious family bookbinding firm

The Bind charts the rise and fall of Egret Bindings, once the most prestigious firm of bookbinders in London. In 1910 brothers Guy and Victor Egret take on an ambitious commission: a deluxe, jeweled binding of a collection of poems, A Moonless Land. It proves to be a moment of hubris. The work triggers their ruin, watched by the disapproving spirit of their father, Garrison Egret. A darkly humorous tale of sibling rivalry and creative one-upmanship, The Bind shows once again that William Goldsmith is an incomparable storyteller and a marvelously inventive artist.

Reviews

"I had to read the book twice to make quite sure that I had understood it. This, though, was a pleasure rather than a chore. And I am already looking forward to reading the book for a third time." —Matthew Sturgis, Oldie

"Takes the reader to another world. . . . The Bind is about dreams, deception, disaster and redemption as well as bookbinding. . . . Goldsmith's palette is muted but evocative, and his characterisation playful, the nods, winks, panic and confusion of his characters mixing engagingly with winding staircases, vast bookcases, toiling minions and antique tools of the trade." —Guardian

"As natural a storyteller as he is a dazzling illustrator . . . The result is utterly delicious, a gripping story that is beautiful to behold." —Neel Mukherjee, New Statesman

"This is a beautiful book to savor and hold." —Publishers Week

"deliciously black-comic denouement."  —Booklist

"This carefully presented ode to the craft of bookbinding is also a story of family dynamics and the dilemma of faithfulness to artistry in a modernizing world: a special treat for booklovers, and a lovely work of art." —Julia Jenkins, Shelf Awareness for Readers

Author Biography

William Goldsmith is a writer and illustrator. His first graphic novel was Vignettes of Ystov.