The Bind charts the rise and fall of Egret Bindings, once the most prestigious firm of bookbinders in London. In 1910 brothers Guy and Victor take on an ambitious commission: a deluxe, jewelled binding of a collection of poems, “A Moonless Land”. The work triggers their ruin, witnessed by the disapproving spirit of their father, Garrison. A darkly humorous tale of sibling rivalry and creative one-upmanship.
The Bind
- Published by Jonathan Cape, London, 2015
- 120 pages, 229 × 286 mm
- ISBN 978-0224097024
- £20.00Buy
Selected press
Goldsmith, as natural a storyteller as he is a dazzling illustrator, keeps wrong-footing the reader, introducing twist upon twist in the corkscrew narrative. The result is utterly delicious, a gripping story that is beautiful to behold.
The New Statesman
The disastrous events are overseen by the ghost of the father, who is powerless to intervene, while the low-contrast colour palette, heavy in browns and oranges and greys, gives it the visual feel of a book of early photographs.
The Independent, The Best Books of 2015
The deftness of Goldsmith’s achievement lies in the tension he is able to create between the image, the narration and the dialogue. Although his use of watercolour inevitably necessitates a fair degree of simplification, he is still able to convey not only all the details of the various characters and their distinctive physiognomies, but all the details of the bookbinding trade.
The Oldie
William Goldsmith’s second graphic novel takes the reader to another world… The unveiling of the collection forms the centrepiece of this enjoyable tale, folding out elegantly from its rose-hued pages. The brothers are soon fighting over it, and The Bind is about dreams, deception, disaster and redemption as well as bookbinding.
The Guardian
There is a grand Edwardian melodrama going on here, a rise and fall story if you like, but the real pleasure is in Goldsmith’s eye for small scale detail.
The Herald
Goldsmith’s art dances us through the bookbinding processes, while his script spins an enthralling saga of cunning plans and obsessive greed… This is a beautiful book to savour and hold.
Publishers Weekly
Other information
Nominated for a British Book Design and Production Award