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oediex · 11 months

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The Binding, by Bridget Collins

About two years ago, I sort of accidentally picked up a book from the library, The Binding by Bridget Collins. I was nearby looking for another book, which was incidentally also a story about books (People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks), and Bridget Collins's book grabbed my attention by its title and book cover.

It's a story set in a pre-industrial world in which book binding is a unique skill with which so-called Binders can capture a memory of a person, which is then forgotten by said person. It is used for forgetting painful memories or secrets that need to be hidden. Sort of in the style of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (one of my favourite films). The blurb on the book spoke of a "secret love affair" or something like that, which also peeked my interest.

I started reading it and it was beautifully written. And then something happened in the story which made me realise that this wasn't just any love story - it was an mlm love story! This wasn't clear from the blurb of the book, so it was a nice surprise. Any representation is representation, and all that. Finding queer love stories (as a main plot point) hidden in books that aren't advertised that way is something I quite like.

So if you like queer/mlm love stories, especially if they are slow-burning, angsty, hurt/comfort love stories, this is the book for you. (Please note, though, that it does take part in a homophobic world, which also plays an important part in the book.)

Anyway, I liked the book so much that I asked it for my birthday, and I'm now rereading it. This time, though, I decided to look up and write down all the words I didn't immediately understand. Note that I didn't look up any words the first time I read it. The story was perfectly understandable without it. But I really wanted to understand it completely, 100%. And there were quite a few words that I didn't immediately understood, or that I did understand, but I wanted to know precisely what they meant. Some of them are words specific to the craft that is described quite a lot, which is the binding of books. Other words I didn't understand (precisely) because English is not my first language!

I've reread 7 chapters so far, which is 108 pages, and a total of ...71 words. 🙈 I doubt people will read them, but I love having a record of them, so they are below the cut!

If anyone does look at them, I'd be interested to hear if these are words that you know or not, and whether English is your first language or not.

1. sheaf: a bundle of grain stalks laid lengthwise and tied together after reaping.

When the letter came I was out in the fields, binding up my last sheaf of wheat with hands that were shaking so much I could hardly tie the knot.

2. stook: a group of sheaves of grain stood on end in a field

It was only Alta, winding her way through the stooks towards me

3. pustule: a small blister or pimple in the skin containing pus

As if I'd been languishing in bed with a cough, or vomiting, or covered with pustules.

4. worry: (of a dog or other carnivorous animal) tear at or pull about with the teeth

I turned away from her and concentrated on sucking the cut at the base of my thumb, worrying at it with my tongue until I couldn't taste blood anymore.

5. stays: a corset made of two pieces laced together and stiffened by strips of whalebone.

"Challenge me again when I'm not wearing stays."

6. flare: gradually become wider at one end

She turned away, her dusty skirts flaring about her ankles.

7. scullery: a small kitchen or room at the back of a house used for washing dishes and other dirty household work

8. scullery maid: a female domestic servant responsible for washing dishes and doing other menial household chores

"Honestly, I might as well be a scullery maid ..."

9. clump: another term for clomp: walk with a heavy tread

Pa clumped across to the cupboard, bent down and pulled out a bottle of blackberry gin.

10. truss: tie up (someone) with their arms at their sides

If I have to truss you up and leave you on her doorstep, you'll go.

11. reel: lose one's balance and stagger or lurch violently; walk in a staggering or lurching manner, especially while drunk

I reeled across to the far side of the yard and leant against the wall.

12. vertiginous: relating to or affected by vertigo

a last vertiginous glimpse of sunlight before the blackness swallowed me.

13. gable: the triangular upper part of a wall at the end of a ridged roof

14. squat: short and thickset; disproportionately broad or wide

The moon had moved; now it was over the gable of the farmhouse and all the shadows were short and squat.

15. farthing: a former monetary unit and coin of the UK, withdrawn in 1961, equal to a quarter of an old penny

I could recall the clink of my errand-money in my pocket that day - sixpence in farthings, so bulking they bulged through my trousers

16. heady: having a strong or exhilarating effect

and the heady, carefree feeling of going to Wakening Fair and slipping away from the others, wondering what I'd buy

17. trestle: a framework consisting of a horizontal beam supported by two pairs of sloping legs, used in pairs to support a flat surface such as a table top

It was hardly a stall at all, only a trestle table guarded by a man with restless eyes, but it was piled high with books.

18. saunter: welk in a slow, relaxed manner

I'd sauntered over, jingling my money, and the man had glanced over both shoulders before he grinned at me.

19. reel: feel shocked, bewildered, or giddy

I nodded, still reeling from the visions I'd seen.

20. thatch: a roof covering of straw, reeds, palm leaves, or a similar material

Under the dark thatch every pane was like a rectangle of flame

21. palsy: (dated) paralysis, especially that which is accompanied by involuntary tremors

My hands were twitching as though I had palsy.

22. endpaper: a leaf of paper at the beginning or end of a book, especially one fixed to the inside of the cover

23. pare: trim (something) by cutting away its outer edges

24. tooling: the ornamentation of a leather book cover with designs impressed by heated tools

25. blind tooling: the impressing of text or a design on a book cover without the use of colour or gold leaf

I learned to make endpapers, pare leather, to finish with blind or gold tooling.

26. copper: (dated) a large copper or iron container for boiling laundry

We shared the rest of the chores, but after a morning bent over painstaking work I was glad to chop wood or fill the copper for laundry.

27. blench: make a sudden flinching movement out of fear or pain; become pale

He gave me a crooked, empty smile, as if he was proud of noticing, as if he was pleased I'd blenched.

28. lattice: a structure consisting of strips of wood or metal crossed and fastened together with square or diamond-shaped spaces left between, used as a screen or fence or as a support for climbing plants; an interlaced structure or pattern resembling a lattice

The light lay on the floorboards in a silvery lattice.

29. keening: the action of wailing in grief for a dead person

Long before I could see their faces clearly, their voices carried across the snow: a desperate mutter of encouragement, and above that the thin desolate keening I'd thought was the wind.

30. gobbet: a piece or lump of flesh, food, or other material

A gobbet of paste dropped from my brush onto the workbench, as if someone had spat over my shoulder.

31. cockle: (of paper) form wrinkles or puckers

32. pucker: a tightly gathered wrinkle or small fold

I'd let the paper cockle, and I'd let it dry; when I tried to peel it away it ripped.

33. pewter: a grey alloy of tin with copper and antimony (formerly tin and lead)

In this light my tools looked like pewter, and a silver smear of glue glinted on the wood like a snail's trail.

35. alarum: archaic term for alarm

There was a bell jangling too, a continuous clanging like an alarum.

36. kipper: cured fish

Now, get the old bitch out here or she'll get smoked into a kipper with the rest.

37. jamb: a side post or surface of a doorway, window, or fireplace

I put down my cold mug of tea and leant forward, and saw the gap between the door and the jamb.

38. hessian: a strong, coarse fabric made from hemp or jute, used for sacks and upholstery

39. upholstery: soft, padded textile covering that is fixed to furniture such as armchairs and sofas

At last I reached out and pulled the cloth down over them; then I stood looking down at the coarse brown hessian.

40. nacreous: adjective form of nacre: mother-of-pearl; a smooth shining iridescent substance forming the inner layer of the shell of some molluscs, especially oysters and abalones, used in ornamentation

I could still see the smooth edge of a femur, the nacreous curve of the skull, a miniature, perfect finger-bone.

41. scrimshaw: adorn ivory or shells with carved or coloured designs

42. burnisher: noun form of burnish: polish (something, especially metal) by rubbing

43. agate: an ornamental stone consisting of a hard variety of chalcedony (quartz), typically banded in appearance

I found a bone folder carved with faint scrimshaw flowers, a book of silver leaf, a burnisher with a thick, umber-streaked agate ...

44. daguerrotype: a photograph taken by an early photographic process, employing an iodine-sensitised silvered plate and mercury vapour

In one cupboard I found a wooden box full of trinkets, wrapped in old silk as if they were important: a child's bonnet, a lock of hair, a daguerrotype mounted in a watch case

45. tack: a small, sharp broad-headed nail; also, equipment used in horse riding, including the saddle and bridle [unclear which of the two definitions is meant]

and there were repairs to be made, tools and tack and a back wall of the barn that needed seeing to ...

46. camphor: a white volatile crystalline substance with an aromatic smell and bitter taste, occurring in certain essential oils

47. chilblain: a painful, itching swelling on a hand or foot caused by poor circulation in the skin when exposed to cold

For an instant I thought I could smell turpentine and camphor, the balm Ma made to ward off chilblains

48. slough: shed or remove (a layer of dead skin)

I'd sloughed that life off like a skin.

49. mottled: marked with spots or smears of colour

Against the mottled grey of the windows the binder's chair stood out in silhouette.

50. paroxysm: a sudden attack or outburst of a particular emotion or activity

At first it was as involuntary as being sick: great paroxysms like retching, each spasm driven by an unpitying reflex that made me gasp and sob for air.

51. range: a large cooking stove with burners or hotplates and one or more ovens, all of which are kept continually hot

When I woke up the range had gone out and it was nearly dark.

53. ragged: (of a sound) not controlled, uneven

54. peal: a loud ringing of a bell

The bell rang, for longer this time, a ragged angry peal as if they'd tugged too hard at the rope.

55. trap: a light, two-wheeled carriage pulled by a horse or pony

Behind him there was a trap, with a lantern hanging from the seat-rail.

56. unctuous: excessively flattering or ingratiating, oily

It was the first time I'd heard the doctor speak to her, and his voice was so tactful it was positively unctuous.

57. gorge: (archaic) the throat; the contents of the stomach

I had never heard Seredith struggle to control her anger, and it made my own gorge rise.

58. signet: a small seal, especially one set in a ring, used instead of or with a signature to give authentication to an official document

The signet ring on his little finger glinted.

59. morocco: fine flexible leather made (originally in Morocco) from goatskins tanned with sumac, used especially for book covers and shoes

60. sumac: a shrub or small tree with compound leaves, reddish hairy fruits in conical clusters, and bright autumn colours

61. headband: an ornamental strip of coloured silk fastened to the top of the spine of a book

62. nonpareil: having no match or equal; unrivalled - one of the basic patterns in paper marbling. It is made by using a comb-like implement to pull streaks across the marbling paint.

Black morocco, gold tooling, false raised bands. Headbands sewn in black and gold, endpapers marbled in red nonpareil.

63. crotchet: a perverse or unfounded belief or notion

64. -monger: denoting a person who promotes a specified activity, situation or feeling, especially one that is undesirable or discreditable

65. stick-in-the-mud: a person who is dull and unadventurous and who resists change

He thinks I'm a crotchet-monger. A stubborn, backward old stick-in-the-mud.

66. caddy: a small storage container, typically one with divisions

67. tea caddy: a small container in which tea is kept for daily use

The tea caddy was so old that the green-and-gold pattern was speckled with rust, and flakes of paint came off on my fingers when I opened it.

68. rennet: curdled milk from the stomach of an unweaned calf, containing rennin and used in curdling milk for cheese

69. rennin: an enzyme secreted into the stomach of unweaned mammals causing the curdling of milk

70. junket: a dish of sweetened and flavored curds of milk

71. curd: a soft, white substance formed when milk coagulates, used as a basis for cheese

There was no point taking her bread and butter - when Toller came I'd ask him to bring us some rennet, and then I could make her some junket

#books #queer romance #mlm romance #hurt/comfort #slow burn #romance novels #book binding #bridget collins #the binding #queer #lgbtqia+#english language #English vocabulary

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