PVA glue vs wheat paste on a leather hinge repair, gluten won by a mile

I spent the better part of last Tuesday fixing a split hinge on an old family Bible from my grandma's place in Boise. First pass I used PVA because it dries fast and I had a bottle right there, but the leather kept curling up and the glue just sat on top like a film, no flex at all. Rubbed it smooth with my thumb and it peeled off again within 20 minutes, pretty frustrating. So I mixed up a small batch of wheat paste from scratch, about a tablespoon of flour and warm water, and that stuff actually bit into the leather fibers and held the spine curve perfectly. It took longer to dry, maybe 4 hours in my garage at 65 degrees, but once it set it was rock solid and still pliable when I bent the cover. Has anyone else had better luck with one glue over the other for repair work on old books, or is it just that I did something dumb with the PVA application?

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