I wanted to read this book because I loved Pip Williams' previous book, and I was not disappointed. This was set during the first World War in Oxford, where Peggy works as a Book Binder alongside her twin sister Maude. Peggy is determined to study at the University, and this book covers her struggles to get there while looking after Maude who has learning difficulties. The female characters in this book are so strong and the while story is so emotional. The book goes into depth about the roles of women during the war and is beautifully written, it also brings in characters from the writer's previous work. I definitely recommend this read

I was sent a copy of The Bookbinder of Jericho by Pip Williams to read and review by NetGalley. As with all the other books I’ve read by this author I absolutely adored this novel! The writing is perfect and the characters are totally believable, as is the sense of place. The author manages to weave her story through the real-life events of World War I and the processes of the Oxford University Press, beautifully researched and, did I say, beautifully written?! It is told in the first person, which I love, by protagonist Peggy, and is full of books and words.... what else could an avid reader wish for?! Definitely a perfect read for me!

Peg and her sister Maude work at the press in Oxford as book binders, Peg loves to read and is always being reprimanded for reading the books instaras of folding the pages, Peg cares for her sister Maude who is challenged intellectually. A really good book I very much enjoyed it.

A touching and inspiring, telling the story of everyday women through the WWI and the influenza outbreak that came towards the end of the war. Focused on twin sisters Peggy and Maude and their lives as "town" working in the Oxford Press book bindery, Peggy longs to be "gown" and be allowed to study but can see no way of achieving this. This is also the period where women are fighting hard to be heard and be counted. The war changes the lives of nearly everyone and it allows women to take on more fulfilling roles, but it is still hard for the working classes. The strong women characters are so well written, each of them brings a different perspective to the story.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read The Bookbinder of Jericho.

I’d like to thank NetGalley and Vintage Books for approving me for an ARC of this book. I buddy read this with my lovely friend Wendy and thoroughly enjoyed out mini chats.

💞I had forgotten how much I love Pip William’s writing. Her beautiful prose and well-developed characters once again captured my heart.

👩🏻This story is littered with women from different walks of life and different circumstances. Maud was my favourite character. She was far more observant than people gave her credit, and some of her one-liners were my favourite parts.

😥This story isn’t without emotion. Set against the backdrop of WWI we see the devastation for those left behind as well as the recovery for the soldiers. Lotte’s story was particularly moving and often had me swallowing a lump in my throat.

📚Throughout it all books are the heart of this story. Learning more about the process of binding books was fascinating and the comfort books brought to the different characters was heart-warming.

This is a lovely and tender story set in the familiar world of the dictionary of lost words that covers similar themes of women's place in the world in the run up to and during the First World War. It tells the story of Peggy and Maude, who work as bookbinders and who both have a strong relationship to the books they work with.

The determination and the resilience shown by all of the women in the book make this a touching and tender portrait of the times, weaving in real events with fictional embroidering in a very creative way.

It gives different perspectives of similar events to this in Pip Williams' earlier book, and adds a depth to the cause of working women. The book covers really well Peggy's wanting to be part of the University when it seems to be closed to her, and the scene where women are finally allowed to be awarded their degrees is very moving.

Vera Brittain appears twice in this novel and both times I wished I was rereading Testament of Youth rather than this unrealistic World War One novel. Peggy lives on a houseboat with her disabled twin sister Maude and they work in the bindery at Oxford University Press. Peggy had to leave school at twelve to start work but dreams of going to university instead.
I liked that this book provided an insight into printing and book binding. Unfortunately the plot and characters were all very anachronistic, and we were expected to believe that Peggy’s employers were content with her wilfully ruining books so she could take them home for her personal collection and that her friends were able to avoid censors when writing home from France. It was also clear this novel wasn’t written by anyone who really understands British class divisions which also weakened its attempt to portray this as a major theme.

‘Your job is to bind the books, not read them..’, Mrs Hogg to Miss Jones.

My thanks to Chatto & Windus for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘The Bookbinder of Jericho’ by Pip Williams.

Oxford, July 1914 and the country is on the brink of war and the men of the Oxford University Press will soon be leaving for the Western Front. Twins Peggy and Maude Jones are employed by the bookbindery and together with their friends will continue the work of the OUP throughout the years of the Great War and beyond.

Peggy is the novel’s narrator and she shares her memories, her dreams of studying at Somerville College, and her love of words and books. Later, she volunteers to sit with men recovering from war injuries. Then as the Great War draws to a close the influenza pandemic brings widespread death. The novel contains a moving love story that felt very authentic.

Pip Williams writes in her Author’s Note that the idea for this story came to her when she was undertaking research in the archives of Oxford University Press for her 2020 novel, ‘The Dictionary of Lost Words’, which was about the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary. From the newsletters, clippings, photos, and other records she realised that the stories of the women bookbinders had been neglected and from there conceived ‘The Bookbinder of Jericho’.

The novel is divided into five parts, each covering a specific time period and named for a book published by the OUP during the years covered by the novel. Williams provides details of these editions as well as mentions works of nonfiction that detail the history of the Oxford University Press. The novel also contains details of the fascinating process of bookbinding.

While this is not a sequel to ‘The Dictionary of Lost Words’, both novels are set in Oxford and explore the roles of women during the early 20th Century.

Overall, I found ‘The Bookbinder of Jericho’ a beautifully written and highly engaging work of historical literary fiction. Given its themes, I feel that is a novel that will likely appeal to reading groups and provide plenty of scope for discussion.

4.5 stars rounded up to 5.

Well written and interesting book, especially if you love books, to learn a little about the process of how they used to be handmade alongside a lovely tale about the characters and the friendships they surround themselves with. Would definitely recommend

"The Bookbinder of Jericho" is a wonderful evocation of life in Oxford around the time of the Great War, but told from the viewpoint of a working class local girl rather than a university student or professor. So many elements are pulled in to the story, including women's fight for emancipation, and even for an education.

Peggy and Maude Jones are orphans living on a barge full of books and parts of books. Life is hard but Peggy is surrounded by words both at work and home, so she is content, if not happy. She has always dreamed of attending the University whose books she helps to print, but had to leave school at 12 to earn money to help the family survive.

There are wonderful, complex characters in this book, and we discover a different side to the war. The first refugees were from Belgium and they were resented by some, as if it was their fault that British men were sent off to fight in the mud of Flanders.

A great, thought-provoking read. Thanks to Net Galley and the publishers for the opportunity to review this book.

This was a brilliant look into life in Oxford around the time of the first world war. Pip Williams has created a completely believable account of what it was like working in the book industry at that time. Peggy Jones and her twin sister Maude work in the bindery, folding the sheets together before they are stitched and turned into books. This is an engrossing story of their working lives and how they were affected by the events of WWI.
I loved the characters of Peggy and Maude. Peggy is intelligent and would love nothing more than to be able to study at Somerville College. Maude is not the same as other girls and Peggy has always felt responsible for her since their mother’s death several years before. The girls are identical twins but very different in character and I really enjoyed seeing how both of them change during the book. There are so many secondary characters that it would be impossible to mention them all but they all contribute an important part to the story and they all come to life brilliantly.
The depiction of the work done in the bindery was brilliant and it really came to life to me. Nowadays, everything is mechanised but 100 years ago, so much was still done by hand and the routines in the bindery become almost like a dance.
The war is a constant backdrop to the story and we see how ordinary people were affected but also there is a fascinating story line about refugees from Belgium and how they were welcomed into Oxford. Not everyone agreed with Britain entering the war though and this point of view is echoed in the book. The author also takes us to the field hospitals on the western front and Vera Brittain makes a couple of fleeting appearances.
I loved this book and recommend it to anyone with an interest in 20th century social history or who just likes a good story.
Huge thanks to Net Galley and the publishers, Random House UK, for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

What a lovely read! This was particularly interesting to me as my family are originally Belgian and were evacuated to Britain during the WW1 and never left. This is a companion piece to The Lost Words novel. It highlighted the loss from both War and influenza and showed how everyone was changed by those years. I loved all the characters too, particularly the twins. Many thanks to Netgalley for an arc of this book.

A great read. I’m new to this author and although would have benefited from reading the previous book really enjoyed it

I absolutely loved The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams so was absolutely delighted to receive an ARC of her new novel The Bookbinder of Jericho. Fans of her first novel will find much to love in her second - it is set during the same time period in Oxford and follows a protagonist that is equally obsessed with words and education but is from a different background…Gwen works in the book binding section of the Oxford Press and is responsible for her twin sister Maude who has learning difficulties. Binders are not supposed to concern themselves the books they are binding but Gwen loves them and aspires to be a student in Oxford. The First World War brings a huge number of challenges and Williams shows us the unrecognised responsibilities of the women affected and involved in the war effort. I didn’t find this to pack the same emotional punch as the The Dictionary of Lost Words but I did really enjoy it and I know fans of the first book will too!

During the First World War, Peg is working in a publishing house folding the pages of books before they are bound. She is told that her job is to fold the books, not read them; something I would find very hard to do! She helps her twin sister Maude who has learning difficulties. There are lots of references to women’s struggles at the time and the trauma of the war And how it had an impact. I enjoyed finding out more about book production as well as being interested in the characters.

Unfortunately this book wasn't for me. Maybe if I had read 'The Dictionary of Lost Words' I would have enjoyed it more. I found it very slow going. The author had done a massive amount of research and I might have enjoyed it more if written as a non-fiction book. I'm sure most people will enjoy this looking at other reviews.

The Bookbinder of Jericho is another astonishing novel from Pip Williams. In a sense it is a companion to the The Dictionary of Lost Words, as it is also set in Oxford only a year or so later and features some of the same characters in minor roles. Peggy and Maude are bookbindery girls at the Clarendon Press in Oxford. They are identical twins and live alone on an old barge. Maude is a vulnerable and rather simple soul and Peggy feels she must protect her to the detriment of her own ambitions since the death of their mother. When the 1st World War breaks out the women are increasingly expected to bear the burden at home, leading to new relationships for both girls, and a chance to rediscover lost opportunities.
As a study of the paucity of opportunity for young women without means in the early 20th century this novel is fascinating enough, but Pip Williams creates such wonderful characters and weaves a gorgeous and moving story around it all too.
This is a novel to read slowly, she writes movingly of how the war rips up society and uses letters from the front to portray the horror of what is happening far from home. I wanted to spend more time with Peggy and Maude and was quite emotional at the end. A triumph.

I loved ‘The Dictionary of Lost Words’ when it came out; it’s one of my favourite books of 2020. And though the drama of ‘The Bookbinder [of Jericho]’ occurs in the same environs, Pip Williams also offers us a crossover in characters, old to new. I found myself as attached to the new cast of characters as much as I had been to Esme. Esme’s Dictionary of Lost Words even features throughout this latest novel:

“She’s captured something, don’t you think?” His voice brought me back to the bindery.
I read the other quotations, re-read the definition. Women (known or unknown) bonded by shared experience. It wasn’t the words that drew me to Mr Owen’s sweetheart, it was the image I had of her pockets full of slips and her head full of longing to be more than she was allowed to be. A shared desire for change.
“She has,” I said. “It makes perfect sense.”
“It could have come straight from the New English Dictionary.”

‘The Bookbinder [of Jericho]’ boasts a perfectly tuned prologue, dropping me in at just the precise moment when Peg's Peg-ness is concentrated into as few actions and words and thoughts as to offer me the landscape of her life. And just as in ‘The Dictionary of Lost Words’, a very precise life it is too. All the tools and processes of bookbinding are laid out with a confidence that speaks to meticulous research and understanding on the author's part:

‘The tables were piled high with text blocks ready for sewing, and the gathering bench was already organised with sections ready to be collated into books.
The folding benches were arranged in three long rows with room for twelve women along each. They faced tall, undressed windows, and morning light spilled over quires of flat, printed sheets and piles of folded sections from the day before.’

There are moments that punch, like markers. They mark a point in the story when things either change or crystallise. These threshold scenes are deeply impressive and often quite moving:

‘I stepped across the threshold. The desk where the librarian would normally sit was empty, and I walked past it without pausing. Shelf after shelf stretched out in front of me, and I knew they held books with the crest of Clarendon Press stamped on their front pages. I wondered how long it would take me to find books with pages I had folded, gathered, sewn. How long it would take me to find a book that I’d been told not to read. Not to ruin by cracking the spine.’

The splices between these movements come at just the right places, and Williams's delicate touch of storytelling - all things slowly, slowly fed through, just enough at a time, in their own time - sets a shine to the narrative as it gains size and heft.

Overall, Williams’s latest novel is just as good as her debut. Williams continues to develop her exploration of women’s relationships with one another, and in some ways, probes further into our emotional response to war, as well as gender inequality and gender alliances.

My thanks to the author and Random House UK for the opportunity to review a digital eARC. Citations are subject to change in the final edition.

A beautiful book, I wanted to spend more time with Peggy and Maude and everyone, to hear more about how books are made, life at home during the First World War and women’s fight for the vote. It’s a love story -of books as well as people, of family ties and family support and the courage to keep trying. Loved it, it’s a very special book.

I enjoyed dictionary of lost words and was thrilled when I saw a new book by Pip Williams was on its way! The bookbinder of Jericho is a stunning book, perfect for any fans of historical fiction. It demonstrates the valuable role and strength of women during the war.
A Beautifully told must read.
Thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK, Vintage, Chatto & Windus for the opportunity to read an advanced copy