In the last few months of 2025, I had a bit of a drought when it came to historical fiction. I read And Then There Was The One from Martha Waters and then… nothing really grabbed me. However, The Bookbinder’s Secret (along with My Fair Frauds) snapped me out of it, and I am happily reading hist-fic once again. This novel is part historical fiction, part thriller, and part mystery- a non-stop ride. Onto The Bookbinder’s Secret by A.D. Bell!
Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan for providing an eARC and an Advanced Listening Copy in exchange for an honest review.
The Bookbinder’s Secret, A.D. Bell
A written confession hidden beneath the binding of a burned book leads a young bookbinder on a hunt for the truth of the story, one of forbidden love, a lost fortune, and murder.
Lilian (“Lily”) Delaney, apprentice to a master bookbinder in Oxford in 1901, chafes at the confines of her life. She is trapped between the oppressiveness of her father’s failing bookshop and still being an apprentice in a man’s profession. But when she’s given a burned book during a visit to a collector, she finds, hidden beneath the binding, a fifty-year-old letter speaking of love, fortune, and murder.
Lily is pulled into the mystery of the young lovers, a story of forbidden love, and discovers there are more books and more hidden pages telling their story. Lilian becomes obsessed with the story but she is not the only one looking for the remaining books and what began as a diverting intrigue quickly becomes a very dangerous pursuit.
Lily’s search leads her from the eccentric booksellers of London to the private libraries of unscrupulous collectors and the dusty archives of society papers, deep into the heart of the mystery. But with sinister forces closing in, willing to do anything for the books, Lilian’s world begins to fall apart and she must decide if uncovering the truth is worth the risk to her own life.
Why You Should Read This…
I am going to shout this from the rooftop of St. Paul’s Cathedral next time I am in London- THIS IS HOW YOU WRITE A DUAL TIMELINE. I love that Bell carried both Lily’s story and the story in the past without forfeiting time with Lily. So many dual timelines give you two partial timelines and have the more modern character magically “solve” the earlier timeline by finding one letter or a necklace. Instead, we are with Lily the whole time, aside from the periodic letters, and both stories build beautifully. It kept me fully invested the whole time, and I couldn’t put the book down.
I also loved that Bell built the story slowly but methodically. It feels like a thriller to me within chapters but overall, the novel isn’t rushed in any way. The story was allowed time to breathe and grow, and it paid off.
If I am being honest, the anchor of books and bookbinding also drew me in. Obviously as a reader, I have a love of books. Thus, I loved learning more about the bookbinding process throughout the novel, and how it tied into the mystery itself. Bell clearly knows the craft and worked it within thoroughly.
Olivia Vinall’s narration was also fantastic. I felt like she balanced the emotion with the excitement and tension well- you feel immersed in the story but you don’t feel overwhelmed by it.
Is The Bookbinder’s Secret on your to-read list?
Cheers,
The Historian
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