A young British woman working in a book bindery gets a chance to pursue knowledge and love when World War I upends her life in this new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of the ReeseΓÇÖs Book Club pick The Dictionary of Lost Words. ΓÇ£Williams spins an immersive and compelling tale,sweeping us back to the Oxford she painted so expertly in The Dictionary of Lost Words.ΓÇ¥ΓÇöPaula McLainauthor of The Paris Wife It is 1914and as the war draws the young men of Britain away to fightwomen must keep the nation running. Two of those women are Peggy and Maudetwin sisters who live on a narrow boat in Oxford and work in the bindery at the university press. Ambitiousintelligent Peggy has been told for most of her life that her job is to bind the booksnot read themΓÇöbut as she folds and gathers pagesher mind wanders to the opposite side of Walton Streetwhere the female students of OxfordΓÇÖs Somerville College have a whole library at their fingertips. Maudemeanwhilewants nothing more than what she has: to spend her days folding the pages of books in the company of the other bindery girls. She is extraordinary but vulnerableand Peggy feels compelled to watch over her. Then refugees arrive from the war-torn cities of Belgiumsending ripples through the Oxford community and the sistersΓÇÖ lives. Peggy begins to see the possibility of another future where she can educate herself and use her intellectnot just her hands. But as war and illness reshape her worldher love for a Belgian soldierΓÇöand the responsibility that comes with itΓÇöthreaten to hold her back. The Bookbinder is a story about knowledgeΓÇöwho creates itwho can access itand what truths get lost in the process. Much as she did in the international bestseller The Dictionary of Lost WordsPip Williams thoughtfully explores another rarely seen slice of history through womenΓÇÖs eyes.