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The Bookbinder’s Secret
A. D. Bell
Publication Date: January 13th, 2026
St. Martin’s Press
400 Pages
Amazon | Goodreads | Bookshop.org
Genre: Historical Fiction | Women’s Fiction
This story takes place in Oxford in the year 1901. Bookbinder Lily feels disheartened by her job as a bookbinder because it is a male-dominated field, and then a mysteriously burned book ends up on her workbench. Under its binding, she finds a mysterious, fifty-year-old letter that shares a story of forbidden love, lost riches, and even a murder. This one clue has Lily obsessed with finding the series of scattered books that hold the rest of the story. As she races through the personal libraries of book collectors, she realizes that she isn’t the only one searching, and maybe some secrets are meant to stay that way.
This book was a wonderfully enchanting read. I loved the way it blends historical fiction with a touch of magic effortlessly. The story sucked me in with its details, especially because books are at the forefront, and they hold more than just stories within their pages. The main mystery is very compelling and kept me turning the pages late into the night. There were a lot of descriptions about bookbinding itself as well.
What stood out the most to me was the atmosphere the author created—it’s both cozy and suspenseful in equal measure. Because of the descriptive nature of the book, I will admit that the pacing felt slightly slow in a few places, but the beautifully crafted characters and the intriguing plot more than made up for it. It’s a very heartfelt story about the power of books and the secrets they can keep. I highly recommend this for anyone looking for a captivating tale of magic and mystery.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
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