It's the first time I've read anything by Pip Williams and I'm glad I did! What an interesting point in history. I've not read much about World War One and this was the ideal introductory read for me.

Send in the backdrop of WW1, I was completely absorbed by this book and its characters. Pip’s books always come across as very well researched which was shown through the microscopic details of the bookbinding processes. The glimpses of books, poems and words in general made my thirst for reading even greater. The war was always there in the background in all its horror, but showed how people got on with their lives in spite of it. I highly recommend this book and look forward to more from this author.

I really enjoyed reading this book, but after starting the audiobook, I have decided to review that fully on my blog.

This was an interesting read on book binders at the turn of the centaury. I didn't know anything about the industry prior to reading the story, but I certainly learned quite a bit. The houseboat had a romantic feel to it. I liked that this book gave a voice to the women who were also fighting at the time of WW1.

This book is a show stopper - one I would give to my friends. I would buy multiple copies of this book for people! Loved the authors previous work. Overall really clever, well written and one I will be recommending. I am now going to purchase the rest of the authors books that I haven’t read yet. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this early copy.

The real charm of this book is the way that it tells an aspect of life during WW1 but from an unusual viewpoint. This is a sister book of 'The Dictionary of Lost Words', so if you've enjoyed one, then look up the other.

I think I went in with my expectations too high, sadly. While I usually don't mind a slow burn, this meandered a bit much for me. I'm not quite sure why I struggled with it so much - all of the ingredients (feminism, WW1, books...) are right up my alley! I will have to try it again when I am in a different frame of mind.

An interesting take on a historical novel. Whilst men are sent to the Western Front, the women are left behind. And at the Oxford University Press two women, Peggy and Maude, sisters are simply there to bind the books, not read the words. But for one of these women collecting words and the parts of books is part of her education. Peggy wants to learn. She wants to be more than just a bookbinder, but she cannot leave her sister.

As more men are conscripted, and there is a sudden influx of Belgian refugees, the war it seems comes more closely to the sisters.

If you want a quiet book to fill your soul, then this is it. Class, society, Women’s suffrage, differences and the beauty of what words can do to a person is encapsulated in this novel. I was intrigued to learn another part of history that I did not know or perhaps took for granted.

This wasn't as good as Pip's first novel 'The Dictionary of Lost Words', but it is still worth a read.
It took a while to get into and I didn't really understand what was going on until about 1/3 of the way through the book. What kept me reading you might ask? The characters!
Pip has the ability to create characters that literally appear in the room with you. You root for them, you want them to learn lessons etc.
I particularly liked that not everything was tied up with a bow at the end. It didn't need to be and made the book feel more real.

I would have liked to know more about Maude and why she was that way. I understand that it didn't need explaining, it didn't take anything away from the story, but for me, the most interesting relationship in the book was between her and her sister.

If you enjoyed the dictionary of lost words, then you'll enjoy this! It's a sort of companion piece, except instead of learning about the academics who wrote the dictionary, this story focuses on the women doing the drudge work of printing- folding, cutting and sewing. The protagonist lives on the Oxford Canal, and I loved the description of her life there with her sister. The characters are satisfyingly complex, and you see how society changes, especially as the men of the press go off to war, and refugees come to Oxford to take their place. Recommended to anyone with an interest in books, women's history or the city of Oxford! I read it months ago and I still think about things I learned from it regularly.

Wonderfully drawn characters and a very different experience of WW1. I was drawn in immediately because of my love of books but I kept reading because of the fascinating insight into life in Oxford at that time especially for women.

I loved this book! Truly enthralling! It painted a breath-taking image of another world. It showed the challenges of war time during the First World War, in addition to the attitudes towards women and the lower classes. I found myself spellbound and gripped by the novel, wanting to know what was going to happen to them. A beautiful read that I highly recommend.

So many interesting.themes.
Peggy and Maude are motherless twins who work together in a publishers.
They live together on a barge, Peggy keeps an eye on Maude as she has strange ways and needs looking after. The girls mother Helen was a great reader and furnished the barge with rejected copies of books, Peggy continues with this and is an avid reader..
Peggy volunteers during WWI, to read and write letters for injured soldiers, she meets a student Gwen from Somerville University who encourages her to apply there. The difference between the working class and the students is summed up with the phrase towns and gowns, but Peggy still has dreams of attending university, she also gets involved with the suffrage movement.
The horrors of war are bought home to her by her friend Tilda's work in hospitals abroad and by meeting a Belgium soldier Bastiaan who she nurses, he is disfigured by his wounds but they have a love affair.
Peggy eventually applied to university overcoming her guilt about letting others help care for Maude.
This book has many interesting, thought provoking characters.
Thank you Pip and NetGalley.

This is a book I should have read and reviewed before now - apologies to the publisher and NetGalley for my lateness, but thank you for the review copy.

This is a beautiful piece of historical fiction set in Oxford during the First World War. Peggy and Maude are twin sisters who work in the bookbindery at Oxford University Press, very much part of the 'town'. Despite this, Peggy is an avid reader, living with her sister on a barge stuffed with the bindery's rejected books, and dreams of becoming part of the 'gown' side of Oxford - a scholar at the prestigious university where woman aren't even given the degrees they earn. When war breaks out, the sisters' lives change forever as the men of the town join the military and Oxford fills with refugees from Belgium and those injured in the fighting. Peggy might finally get her chance at her dream, but at what cost?

Being an unashamed bookworm, I loved the fact that books and bookbinding underpin this whole story, Peggy and Maude's deceased mother passed the joy of books and learning on to Peggy and the descriptions of their floating home insulated with books and fragments of books was a joy. I could imagine being like Peggy, reading all the bits of the books she was meant to be binding and it feeding her curiosity. The university library also becomes important to the plot as somewhere gradually opened to Peggy; along with the fabulous librarian, this was another pleasure of the book. These lovely settings balance the more traumatic ones in the novel, notably the military hospitals packed with their sick and dying patients.

The contrast between the two sisters is also an interesting element. Peggy - our heroine and main focus - is determined, clever and spirited but held back initially by her duty to look after Maude. Her twin sister has no aspiration beyond her bindery job, paper-folding hobby and the confines of their cosy home; she also has limited language, only repeating phrases she has heard from others. However, the dynamic between the two sisters shifts as Maude's strengths become more evident - and Peggy starts to feel her own limitations.

This is - in many ways - an uplifting story, but one set against the hardships of the First World War. We aren't spared the realities of war - the horrific injuries incurred by soldiers, the traumatised refugees, the men of the bindery who never return - and it feels authentic. It isn't cosy and Peggy faces some tough choices and setbacks on her path, not least the sexism of the age.

I'd recommend this to anyone who enjoys immersive historical fiction, especially that which focuses on women's experiences of war - fans of Lissa Evans' brilliant Second World War novels would love this, I think.

I really enjoyed this book. Set from just before until after WW1, it tells the story of Peg and her twin sister Maude. Both work as bindery girls but Peg dreams of more. A great historical novel, highly recommended.

Awesome and brilliantly written.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me read an advance copy of this book in exchange for my review.

After reading and loving Pip Williams' The Dictionary of Lost Words, I couldn't wait to read her next novel set in Oxford, this time in the University Press and I wasn't disappointed. I loved being back in Oxford in the early 1900's and although this is an entirely standalone story, I really enjoyed how Williams intertwined the lives of some of characters from The Dictionary of Lost Words into Peggy Jones' world. This book is set just before until just after World War One and is written from the perspective of Peggy Jones in the wake of losing her mother and caring for her twin sister Maude whilst working as a bindery girl. I was fascinated with the descriptions of the book binding process, as, like many I'm sure, I have never given much thought about the book binding process. I lost myself completely in this story and its host of characters which are so well written I could feel each of their emotions, loss, grief, hope and love. This is another utterly absorbing story from Pip Williams and I cannot wait to read what she writes next. Thanks to NetGalley and Random House, Vintage UK for a digital copy for review.

I loved "The Dictionary of Lost Words", and this standalone "companion" novel, also centred around the Oxford University Press, was equally wonderful.

As well as continuing the theme of gender inequality which underpinned the first book, this novel highlights the class / educational divide between Oxford "town" and "gown." The story is well crafted and the characterisation is beautiful.

I highly recommend this book, and hope to see more from this author soon..

The Bookbinder of Jericho is a book about Peg and her twin sister Maude who work as bindery girls in early twentieth century Oxford and live on a narrowboat.

The sisters have recently lost their mother and are reliant on each other, but the book tells the story of their growth, particularly as the first world war and subsequent Spanish flu affects their lives and loves. Peggy has ambitions to be a scholar and loves to read the books she binds, but is hampered from continuing her education by her social class and her ties to her Maude who has a learning disability. Can she overcome this to acheive her dreams?

A thoroughly enjoyable book for lovers of historical fiction, particularly readers of the author's previous novel The Dictionary of Lost Words. Some characters from TDoLW pop up in The Bookbinder of Jericho, but only incidentally, and it's not necessary to have read the previous book to get full enjoyment of this one.

The best historical fiction is transportive, immersive, rich in detail, and populated by compelling, convincing characters. The Bookbinder of Jericho has all of this and more.

Having read a heap of WWII fiction, I loved that this was set against the background of the Great War, thus offering insight into events of that time, of which I was until now ignorant. Just as interesting and instructive was the setting of the book bindery of the Oxford University Press. Williams’ detailed descriptions of the bindery and its processes were endlessly fascinating.

But it was the characters who stole my heart. 21 year-old Peggy, whose bright intelligence and love of reading sees her fostering ambitions to study at the University, and her twin: sweet, simple-minded Maude.

With the outbreak of war, the sisters’ world is turned on its head, and they both have to adjust to a new set of norms.

What follows is a wholly absorbing, multi-faceted tale of family, love, sacrifice, and loss. Williams expertly weaves in commentary on topics such as women’s rights, war and PTSD to round out the storytelling.

It’s an emotional read, complemented by meticulous research. And I loved it!