William Goldsmith’s second graphic novel takes the reader to another world. Egret Bindings is both showroom and factory, from a time before outsourcing and automation: its 100 workers sew, glue, pare, trim and emboss everything from songbooks and ledgers to artefacts, “jewel studded for the private libraries of the elite”. The printed word is king, and business is booming under brothers Guy and Victor, whose latest triumph is to be A Moonless Land, a one-off edition of poems produced for a rich American, its letters made of gold, its cover a spider with ruby eyes and 96 topazes on its legs. The unveiling of the collection forms the centrepiece of this enjoyable tale, folding out elegantly from its rose-hued pages. The brothers are soon fighting over it, and The Bind is about dreams, deception, disaster and redemption as well as bookbinding. Fittingly, though, it’s the look more than the plot that captivates. Goldsmith’s palette is muted but evocative, and his characterisation playful, the nods, winks, panic and confusion of his characters mixing engagingly with winding staircases, vast bookcases, toiling minions and antique tools of the trade.
• To order A Bind for £16 (RRP £20) go to bookshop.theguardian.com or call 0330 333 6846. Free UK p&p over £10, online orders only. Phone orders min p&p of £1.99.
