Why a Booktrail?
1800s: The magic of bookbinding, of locking away your memories in a book.
The Binding
What you need to know before your trail
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.
Locations
Reset- England - Yorkshire - Castleford
- A: Castleford
- B: River Aire
- C: Castleford - Forum Library & Museum
Travel Guide
Travel the most magical of journeys to Castleford, Yorkshire
The book’s locations are vague but it’s set in and around Castleford. The area is rural and farming is a major industry. A key part of the landscape are the marshes:
Out on the marshes, on the Castleford Road –
“Stagnant water, rotting reeds. Mud. Mud that swallowed you alive if you went too far from the road, and never spat you back.”
The art of the book binder is the most magical setting of all:
“Above my head papers hung over a wire, rich plain colours interspersed with pages patterned like stone or feathers or leaves. I caught myself reaching up to teach the nearest one: there was something about those vivid kingfisher-blue wings hanging above my head.”
It’s what goes on inside that really chills the back of your neck. You might never see a library or a shelf of old books in the same way again
Booktrailer Review
Susan: @thebooktrailer
The art of bookbinding and how one boy learns the trade is a magical reading experience.
BookTrail Boarding Pass: The Binding
Destination: England, Castleford Author/guide: Bridget Collins Departure Time: 1800s
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