A book whispers. A woman hears its power.
A man will stop at nothing to silence them both.

'It is wonderful - beautiful. It is dangerous - sinful.
It is the best thing that could have come to me. It is the worst.'

Beatrice is the convent's librarian. For years, she has shunned the company of her sisters, finding solace only with her manuscripts. But she longs for knowledge of the outside world - a world ruled by men in which women can play no part.

One carnival night, it seems her prayers are answered: two women, badly injured and desperate for help, are abandoned at the convent's gate. Moments from death, one of them presses something into Beatrice's hands: a bewitching book whose pages have a dangerous life of their own.

But the men of the city, bent on the book's destruction, are closing in. Beatrice must do all she can to protect it - no matter what the cost.

The Binding meets The Handmaid's Tale. Perfect for fans of dark academia and historical feminist fiction.