The Bindery Guild

Every book is a door. Every binding a journey . . . Ever since she was attacked in a dark alley two years ago, Olive has been living in self-seclusion at her family’s home and book-binding business in Seattle. Lonely but unable to venture outside without an umbrella to protect her, Olive has only her father and her work building bookshelf dioramas for company. That is, until Olive’s father disappears in search of her estranged twin brother, and a handsome gentleman with old-fashioned clothes and a British accent whirls into her workshop and introduces himself as Jack Vale, Master Binder of the Bindery Guild, protector of the many worlds. Jack opens Olive’s eyes to the magic she’s been inches away from her whole life: they are living in a multi-verse, connected through book leaves — one only needs the right leaf and key and they may travel to any city or world they desire. While it might be 1914 everywhere, each world is on its own trajectory, influenced by the movements and conflicts of its inhabitants. Due to a revolution centuries before her birth, Olive has grown up without inequality or oppression, but when she discovers her brother has been spotted collaborating with the Serbian insurgent group, the Black Hand, in another timeline, it is up to her to keep the violence from spiraling out of control. With Jack’s help, Olive must rise above her fears, take control of her inheritance, and get to the bottom of her twin’s betrayal before the villainous Author brings the death and destruction of total war to yet another world. Jumping between futuristic Seattle, Edwardian England, and the Austrian Empire, THE BINDERY GUILD is an utterly original, perfectly paced historical speculative debut.