The Bookbinder of Jericho

During the COVID-19 lockdowns in Melbourne I did a great deal of reading but the book that I enjoyed reading the most was The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams. The recently published companion to this novel, the Bookbinder of Jericho, is another book that I thoroughly enjoyed reading.

Peggy and Maude are twins who have worked in the bindery at Oxford University Press since they were twelve. Their normal role is to fold each printed page into sections and then compile all the folded sections together to form a book. After a while the job can become monotonous but Peggy has been warned that her job is to fold the books, not read them. If, however, pages or sections of a book were damaged Peggy would take the copy home to add to the library that her mother had created on the canal boat on which the girls lived. Peggy's mother wanted Peggy to stay on at school however Peggy decided that it was her responsibility to keep an eye on Maude who was special. 

The book is set in Jericho, a district of Oxford. Parts of the university were next to the entrance to the bindery. 1914 and the advent of the First World War changed the lives of the people living and working in Jericho. Many of the men and boys at the bindery left to join the army. Some of the women left the bindery to work in ammunition factories. This placed extra strain on those left behind working in the bindery. 

Tilda joined the VAD and worked in hospitals initially at home and later at Étaples, the principal depôt and transit camp for the British Expeditionary Force in France and also the point to which the wounded were transported. Her letters to Peggy provide background to the horrors occuring in France and Belgium.

The war also provided additional opportunities for women to help the war effort from home. Peggy and Gwen volunteered for an hour or two several times a week at a hospital set up in Oxford where they wrote letters and read to soldiers who were far from home. Peggy later worked part-time with other women in community gardens where vegetables were grown to help feed the local community. When there was an outbreak of Spanish Flu, Peggy and Gwen joined the Red Cross to help those suffering from this disease that had crept into England with soldiers returning from France.

When a group of refugees from Belgium arrive in Jericho there is a mixed reaction from the locals as  English families lose their sons and fathers when fighting overseas. As the war continues and numbers of deaths and injured grows community attitudes to war change. The plight of the Belgians becomes one of the themes of the book.

The role and status of women in the community is another theme of the book. The suffrage movement had been growing before the war and it was hoped that women, especially as they had been so involved in helping the war effort, would achieve the right to vote. At the end of the war it was announced that some, but not all women would be able to vote if they wanted to. The fight for universal suffrage would have to continue.

Living in a university city it was obvious that the education system also favoured men. Although some women were able to study subjects at university they were not allowed to be awarded a degree. Many obstacle were also placed in the path of women wishing to enter the univerity unless they wre wealthy or knew people in high places.

The Bookbinder of Jericho provides an insight of what it was like for women and families on the homefront during the First World War. Many of the issues at the time were ones that we take for granted today, especially in Australia. The novel is also Peggy's story and how she adapted to the many changes and challenges to be faced at this time in order to decide how she really wanted to live her life. This is a book really worth reading.