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. THE BINDING is an unforgettable; magical novel: a boundary-defying love story and a unique literary event.