Oxford 1914, and Peggy Jones works folding folios of paper and making up volumes in the Clarendon Press bindery in Oxford. She is an orphan and also has the responsibility of looking after her twin sister Maude, who while working alongside her, is what was then termed “feeble-minded”, but today would probably be recognized as having some form of autism. Peggy has an appetite and a passion for learning and finds it frustrating that she can only glimpse short sentences and parts of the books she works upon, and hence furnishes the narrow boat she shares with her sister with parts of books in various conditions that have been rejected as substandard by her employers. Peggy is also a supporter of the suffragette movement and sees an opportunity to advance herself as the country enters the Great War in an orgy of patriotic enthusiasm. She volunteers as a reader and writer for patients at a local hospital and there becomes very close to Bastiaan, a severely injured Belgian man.
There are excellent details on the painstaking process of bookbinding by hand, as well as the challenges and pressures that the country’s entrance into the conflict present to those left to keep affairs running. It is a well written and thoroughly engaging story, and although the themes of social inequality, emancipation and the horrors of the Great War are essential and relevant, the general subject, style and mood of the novel felt like so many similar books I have read in recent years.

This book was a slow burn for me compared with The Dictionary of Lost Words. I found Peggy easy to respect, but hard to like at first. Even towards the end, she's a prickly character. It's easy to sympathise with her, and to understand why her experience of the world has made her the way she is, but she's sometimes exasperating, and I felt that being her friend wouldn't always be a comfortable or smooth ride.
In a book that mentions a work called The Anatomy of Melancholy, there's a lot to be bitter and melancholic about. As the author points out at the end of her note, '"No man living is free," Burton wrote. And no woman either.' Peggy has to work hard for the limited freedom she will obtain, and the book has a lot to say about what's expected of women and how little their labours are recognised in just about every field. I loved that she was helped in small ways by various women in the book, but also by the man who becomes so important in her life. It's important to acknowledge that the progress women made back then couldn't have happened without their enlightened male allies.
Knowing a little of women's history makes it hard to rejoice much at the book's sort-of happy ending: British women, especially those like Peggy, still had a long way to go after WWI before they'd achieve anything like political or legal equality. It made me reflect on how much distance still has to be travelled in so many parts of the world before they will achieve true equity with men. It wasn't a book that left me feeling uplifted, but that doesn't make me appreciate it any less; it deserves every one of its five stars. The story of The Bookbinder of Jericho was the story it needed to be: serious and thought-provoking, with troubling moments. The story arc was absolutely right for Peggy, Maude and the other characters. Complex and beautifully drawn as these characters were, they deserved for their tribulations not to be swept aside with the simplicity of a happy ever after.
I'd wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone interested in feminist perspectives on history and women's experiences generally.

An utterly charming historical novel, which is also a companion piece to The Dictionary of Lost Words. As war begins, a group of women take on the responsibility of running the Oxford University Press. Women from all walks of life come together in a book about books, hope, love, war and courage. Exquisitely written, this is an original and moving novel.

I loved “lost dictionary”, so I was looking forward to this one. Unless it’s just me, it does seem to give a little nod to the previous book, linking them up a little, and again, it’s a very book/language themed book. I did prefer her last book, but this one was an excellent read.

I did find it incredibly sad however, it’s heart wrenching, with very little joy - given the era though maybe it’s not surprising.

It’s a beautiful book, well written and an excellent story.

My thanks to Netgalley and Random House UK, Vintage for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Starting in 1914 we join Peggy and Maud, two twin sisters who work in a bindery collating and folding the pages of books being printed by the Oxford University Press. The girls live on a barge and lead a simple and quiet life. Whilst Peggy forever has her nose in books, Maude sits for hours quietly folding paper into shapes.
As the war takes more and more staff away from the OUP - men to fight and women to nursing and administration roles – new faces, including Belgian refugees, arrive to fill the gaps. Amongst these is Lotte and she is assigned to the bindery where she is seated between Maude and Peggy. As Lotte’s backstory slowly emerges her friendship with Maude becomes tighter and tighter. For the first time, Peggy now finds herself able do things independently as Lotte increasingly steps in to look after Maude – a role Peggy has uncomplainingly filled for years since the death of their mother.
Pip Williams now effortlessly draws us into the lives of those working in the OUP and we follow along to see how Peggy uses her new found freedom. What makes the story even more engaging is we again meet characters from Pip’s earlier book “The Dictionary of Lost Words”. Mr Hart, Gareth, Esme and above all Tilda all make a re-appearance but now we see them from different perspectives. This gives the reader the feeling of being back amongst friends.
So settle back and enjoy Peggy’s story. Her life is anything but easy. But determination, love and an unfailing drive to improve herself through learning from books, not just to live a life of binding them, provides an enjoyable and emotional read. By the end you’ll have learned a great deal about the skills required to produce a book, you’ll have smiled at Maude and her mannerisms, you’ll have cried at the grief experienced by so many of the characters but, above all, you’ll know you’ve come to the end of something rather special. Highly recommended.

Wonderful story aside the insight into the book binding process of the wartime era was absolutely fascinating! The description of the folds and the dance to assemble was so vivid it stepped off the page as if in a film.
As someone local to Oxford I could also picture the various areas of the city mentioned in the book and relate to the town and gown divide the girls experienced and was rooting for both Peggy and Maude to find their niches in their worlds.

The Jericho in the book’s title is not the Jericho of Palestine, but the university town of Oxford! A subtle, slow-paced novel about an intelligent young bookbinder living on a narrowboat in Oxford during WWI.

From childhood, Peggy had felt responsible for her mentally deficient twin, Maude, which had held her back. During the early years of the war Peggy volunteers to help Belgian war victims in the hospital, one of which was Bastiaan who, despite being severely disfigured, they became lovers. As a bookbinder her thirst for knowledge increased with an ever growing collection of wasted pages she removed from the binary and lay scattered around the narrowboat. She was encouraged to follow her passion for reading and was granted a conditional scholarship to attend the ladies Somerville College in Oxford. To her dismay, Peggy failed the final university test of Responsions and forfeited her place. Continuing to work in the publishing company towards the end of the war she accepted the position of reader. At the end of the war she reapplied for a university place and ……

Interesting cross section of characters, good story line, giving an insight into the lives of Oxford’s residents during WWI but slightly uninspiring. On the positive side it was good to read a novel set in a single timeline. My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers Random House for this advance copy.

Having adored The Dictionary of Lost Words, I expected to enjoy this book, but unfortunately it just didn’t grab me. I felt it was missing the vibrancy of characters that The Dictionary of Lost Words had, and the plot was too meandering and slow. I appreciated the feminist themes but thought they were slightly overdone. Not a book for me, I’m afraid.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book which will be published on 6 July. This is a beautiful book and so well written. It is set in Jericho during WW1 and around identical twins Peggy and Maude who work together in a book bindery, while grieving the loss of their mother. They live in Calliope, a narrow boat filled with books.

Peg dreams of a better life, one where she can progress in a career and hopes for equality.

It is a very thought provoking book and I found it really interesting. It covers war, the loss, the courage, but also the hope of those who lived through these times. It has some beautiful characters and I loved learning about each of their lives.

I particularly found the way the author described the process of book binding fascinating and so beautiful. It showed the love one can have for reading and books and I found that really emotional.

This is a book that will go on my favourites list and I would highly recommend it.

I thought I was going to be spending some time in the Middle East. Little did I know that Jericho is also the name of a suburb of Oxford.

It’s where we find Peggy and Maude Jones, twin sisters, living on a narrowboat on the Oxford Canal, cocooned by the books their late mother Helen collected: occasionally purchased, but mostly brought home as rejected from the Oxford University Press, where she worked in the bindery, along with both her daughters. Having inherited - or been nurtured by Helen into - a love of books and a thirst for learning, Peggy continues her mother's practice of rescuing spoiled books and manuscripts from the Press to bring home. But the gap between ‘Town’ and ‘Gown’, the residents and students of Oxford, is wide and seemingly impossible to breach.

With the onset of the First World War and the disappearance of the majority of men as they went to fight, the women are required to cover roles they would never have anticipated. For her part, when Peggy volunteers to read to injured soldiers, she comes into contact with people she would otherwise never have met, who inspire her to aim for her dream of receiving the education she is clearly capable of. Her struggle is not only against class and gender prejudice, and intellectual snobbery; the responsibility Peggy feels to care for her sister, who is special, different, also weighs heavily on her.

When the Spanish Flu epidemic hits, on top of everything else – well, my emotions were all over the place.

The characters who fill the story are well-written and are people to treasure. Some of them are people who actually lived (from time to time I was distracted by internet searches to satisfy my curiosity when I knew or suspected a character was a real person), adding a further dimension to what already comes across as an authentic personal and national/international history.

Historical fiction, closely based on historical fact, doesn’t get much better than this.

This is another book by Pip Williams which takes a well known period of history - WW1 - but sees it through the eyes of women. The two main characters - Peggy and Maude, twins - are employed binding books for the Oxford University Press. They see the local young men going to war including their neighbour on the canal, Jack and witness the atrocities of war through the arrival of refugees from Belgium and through the letters and experiences of their friends, Jack and Tilly. Yet war also brings opportunities for young women - employment in aid of the war effort, the vote and even degrees.

Peggy has to work through where her duty and responsibilities lie and how she can reach her potential within those constraints and decide whether she can love as well.

delightful, thought provoking - one to recommend.

I was a big fan of the Dictionary of Lost Words, and this title did not disappoint. A great read, well paced with excellent characterisation and sense of place. I developed real sympathy with all the characters . I found a real page turner. Definitely an author to follow.

I really looked forward to this after having loved the Dictionary of Lost Words. The book was about Peggy and her twin sister Maude (who has some issues to deal with) who both work in a book binding factory. At the onset of war, Peggy wonders over the possibility of starting anew and doing more for herself.

This was an ok read although a little slow and morose for me.

Superb! A beautifully written, gentle, emotional story told with such empathy and compassion I felt the author must have been a book binder herself! The story was educational too - the research must have been immense!, not just about the book binding but the state of women’s emancipation at that time plus all the horrors of the First World War. Peggy and Maude, twin sisters living in their narrow boat after the death of their mother. They both work in Jericho at the Book Binders. Pegs is a woman of her time desperate to better herself but torn between her ambition and taking care of her sister Maud. Maud is different, a complex but much loved character in her own right. The war begins and their lives change - Peggy begins to find herself! An old friend of their mothers, Tilda becomes a VAD, close friend Jack joins up and Belgian refugees arrive! Peggy meets and volunteers with Gwen, a gown at the Somerville Women’s college in Oxford and who unwittingly inflames her ambitions. She also meets Bastiaan, a refugee who she initially cares for and the relationship deepens. The story is simple yet told with such compassion, such depth! I found I was literally holding my breath at one point! A truly wonderful story that had me in its thrall from start to finish.

I very much enjoyed this book, as I did the previous one - The Dictionary of Lost Words. Though some of the same characters appear, the books are stand-alones and can be read independently.

Set against the background of the First World War (on the home front), this novel explores the lives of the women left behind, their aspirations and disappointments; their triumphs and heartbreaks. We follow Peggy, who longs to study at Somerville but must work in the book bindery, folding the pages of books rather than reading them. Will she settle for marriage and a life like her mother lived, or will she strive to make her dreams come true? Is she really constrained by having to look after her sister, or is it her own fears that hold her back?

As usual, the characterisation is well done - especially Maude - and the descriptions make you feel like you are there. I now want a houseboat!

This is a moving and fascinating tale of the impact of the first world war on the women left behind to keep the workplaces, including the printing press, running. Peggy feels responsible for her twin sister and a little bit resentful of the restrictions she feels this places upon her. It is the era of the suffragettes striving for the vote, but Peg realises it will still be out of her reach as a lowly worker without property. We are shown the long-lasting effects of the horrors of the war. The detailed intricacies of the printing techniques did pass me by a little, but all in all this was a very readable and thought provoking novel.

The story of twin sisters, Peg and Maude, who live on a narrow boat on the Oxford canal and work in the book bindery nearby in Jericho at the Clarendon Press. Peg wants far more from her life, but is stymied due to her gender and place in the world. Society is fixed for the working class and generations of families have worked in the same buildings. Peg is continually told not to read the books, but to bind them. She is tied to her sister and feels that her life is narrow, full of responsibilities and a frustrating lack of freedoms. Women are still not allowed to vote. Despite being accepted into university and able to study at Oxford, they are not awarded a degree. Going to study English at Somerville college is Peg’s dream, but feels completely unattainable to a woman of her class and educational background. Then, World War 1 begins, bringing a wave of Belgian refugees fleeing devastated cities, a mixing of the classes and society begins to be irrevocably altered. Peg’s life alters she forms different relationships and new opportunities seem to be possible.

The characters are likeable and hugely sympathetic. Tilda and Gwen as supporting characters brought much needed lightness and humour to proceedings.

Once again intensive research has obviously gone into this book, as for the author’s excellent debut; The Dictionary of Lost Words.

I really like books which not only entertain, but also inform. Despite being from Oxford I did not know that it was host city to many from Belgium during the Great War. I enjoyed reading about a familiar city, it’s superb to picture most of the buildings and places.

I have to admit that I did not really understand Maude, Peg’s identical twin. What exactly was her disability? Although she was initially described as childlike and naive, she was clearly far from intellectually limited as the story progressed.

I felt quite emotional by the end of the story. It’s an uplifting read and I look forward to the next from this talented author.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book

Thanks to Netgalley and Vintage for the digital ARC and further thanks go to Vintage for subsequently sending me a paperback proof.

I read The Dictionary of Lost Words almost a year ago to the day when on holiday in Gran Canaria. When I heard there was a companion book coming out I was so excited. It was fitting that we came back to Gran Canaria exactly a year later, The Bookbinder had to be on my holiday TBR.

I actually loved this one more than Dictionary. A wonderful cast of strong diverse female characters, focused round the Jericho bookbinding factory that featured in the first book.

There's Peggy, the narrator, who is a World War 1 version of a bookstagrammer, living on a barge and obsessed with books.😃 She wants to go to University, but her background means the closest she gets to books is binding them.

She lives with her twin Maude, who has communication problems but is bright and talented.

There are a plethora of supporting cast members, all great and I particularly loved Tilly and Gwen.

But Peggy is the main focus as she considers her own road map, making sure she factors in the impact it might have on those most dependant on her.

The book spans over the first world war so is quite graphic in detail and covers loss on a large scale. It's very feminist in nature but also covers class - Jericho is portrayed as poverty stricken whereas Gwen comes from Westminster and her family are wealthy and political. Due to the time period it also covers the suffragette movement.

This is one of my favourite reads of 2023 and a contender for my book of the year.

This novel was gorgeous. I loved Peggy’s story, motivations and goals, Maude was adorable, I am familiar with Jericho and enjoyed the references, I too have sat in St Sepulchre’s cemetery, though I have not given any drunks of ginger beer!

The writing was compelling, and also heartbreaking,

I plan on reading Pip William’s past and future work now,

Wow! What an amazing book. I absolutely loved it. The colourful characters and the detail of book binding were excellent. I would definitely recommend it.