The Binding

Fandom
Name:	The Binding
Abbreviation(s):
Creator:	Bridget Collins
Date(s):	January 7th 2019
Medium:	Novel
Country of Origin:	UK
External Links:	Goodreads page
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Spoiler Warning: This article or section may contain spoilers. If this bothers you, proceed with caution.

The Binding is a LGBT fantasy magical realism novel by Bridget Collins, published in 2019. It is set against a 19th century England landscape that is part Victorian gothic, part medieval outlier and yet strikingly modern, where books are magical objects which contain the real memories of people who wanted to (or were forced to) forget them. The novel centers around the relationship between the country boy assistant to a Bookbinder (bookmaker) Emmett Farmer and young lordly gentleman Lucian Darnay.

Canon Overview

Emmett Farmer a young farm labourer whose life is irrevocably altered when he receives a cryptic summons, pressing him into service as an apprentice to a Bookbinder. But secrets and lies surround your life and the arrival of the lordly Lucian Darnay, with whom he senses a connection, changes everything, along with the discovery of a book with his own name on it and is forced to choose between forgetting and the dreadful, tantalising promise of remembrance.

Main Characters

• Emmett Farmer, a farmer boy who suffered an unexplained illness and was subsequently sent to apprentice with a Bookbinder;
• Lucian Darnay, a young gentleman who visits the binder;
• Seredith, the binder Emmett is apprenticed to;
• Althea Farmer, Emmett's sister.

Fandom

The book has a very small fandom centered around the canon relationship of Lucian Darnay/Emmett Farmer. The book's premise has also been used on several occasions in fusion fanworks.^{[citation needed]}

• The Binding AO3 tag (23 works as of June 16, 2022.)

Tropes

The book is extremely trope-y and includes a number of fandom favourites:

• Amnesia, as each main character forgets the other one at alternating points in the story;
• Hurt/Comfort
• Identity Porn
• First Person pov, due to authors imitating the book's narrative style.

Example Fanworks

Fanfiction

• the trump card - part 1 of The Binding trilogy series by refectory, Of course. The trump card. The words that, if I said them . . . I didn't let myself finish the thought. (2019)
• An Epilogue by turketspy, An epilogue. Emmett and Lucian find a home. (2019)
• Ash, Smoke, Fire by greedy_dancer, “There’s nothing the doctor can do for him,” “It’s a binder he needs.” (2019)
• (ask me again) tomorrow morning by paskuda, "Well then," he says. "Let's go." We do. This is everything that happens after.
• The Hidden Passage by aurilly for MildredMost, Getting their memories back is only the first step. (2021)

Fanart

• Y’all need to read “The Binding” by Bridget Collins by malishiru (2019)
• Which was worse to feel nothing or to grieve by rn-lynch (2020)
• Emmett Farmer/Lucian Darnay, a Russian aesthetic by pssvggrss (2020)
• Emmett Farmer and Lucian Darnay from the book of Bridget Collins by madnessandlovesstuff (2020)
• Emmett/Lucian in a prairie by khuggs (2021)

Podfic

Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples.