#TheDictionaryofLostWords #NetGalley
402 pages
Published in 2021
Historical fiction
Four stars****
My thoughts:
The Dictionary of Lost Words tells a complex story with skill. Readers meet and follow Esme and those around her. Esme is motherless and is being raised by a caring father, godmother and the servants of the historical founder of the OED.
In some ways this is a bildungsroman as it details Esme’s early life and growing up. It is equally a story about words-words that are included in the OED at the time of its authoring and words that Esme discovers that were not included. (Why? Readers can guess).
There is also the backdrop of the vote for women’s rites and observation of women’s roles and enough background of the historical period to bring it to life. Readers meet an actress for example who influences Esme.
The Dictionary of Lost Words was Pip Williams’ first novel. However, I read her second book first (The Bookbinder) and absolutely adored it. I very much liked The Dictionary but would still say that I liked The Bookbinder more. Still, it was quite evident from The Dictionary that Pip Williams would be an author to reckon with. Note that she has a third title coming out in the fall of 2026.
Many thanks to Random House and NetGalley for this title. All opinions are my own.
Description:
from the publisher
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • REESE’S BOOK CLUB PICK • “Delightful . . . [a] captivating and slyly subversive fictional paean to the real women whose work on the Oxford English Dictionary went largely unheralded.”—The New York Times Book Review
“A marvelous fiction about the power of language to elevate or repress.”—Geraldine Brooks, New York Times bestselling author of People of the Book
Esme is born into a world of words. Motherless and irrepressibly curious, she spends her childhood in the Scriptorium, an Oxford garden shed in which her father and a team of dedicated lexicographers are collecting words for the very first Oxford English Dictionary. Young Esme’s place is beneath the sorting table, unseen and unheard. One day a slip of paper containing the word bondmaid flutters beneath the table. She rescues the slip and, learning that the word means “slave girl,” begins to collect other words that have been discarded or neglected by the dictionary men.
As she grows up, Esme realizes that words and meanings relating to women’s and common folks’ experiences often go unrecorded. And so she begins in earnest to search out words for her own dictionary: the Dictionary of Lost Words. To do so she must leave the sheltered world of the university and venture out to meet the people whose words will fill those pages.
Set during the height of the women’s suffrage movement and with the Great War looming, The Dictionary of Lost Words reveals a lost narrative, hidden between the lines of a history written by men. Inspired by actual events, author Pip Williams has delved into the archives of the Oxford English Dictionary to tell this highly original story. The Dictionary of Lost Words is a delightful, lyrical, and deeply thought-provoking celebration of words and the power of language to shape the world.
Editorial Reviews:
From Library Journal
Though this sweeping effort takes some time to build momentum, the payoff is deeply satisfying. Williams’s feminist take on language will move readers.
From Kirkus Reviews
Williams provides readers with detailed background and biographical information pointing to extensive research about the OED and its editors, many of whom appear as characters in Esme’s life. The result is a satisfying amalgam of truth and historical fiction.
From Library Journal
Enchanting, sorrowful, and wonderfully written, the book is a one-of-a-kind celebration of language and its importance in our lives. A must-have for every library collection.
From Booklist
“A lexicographer’s dream of a novel, this is a lovely book to get lost in, an imaginative love letter to dictionaries.”
Awards:
WINNER OF THE AUSTRALIAN BOOK INDUSTRY AWARD
From the Publisher
Joyce's mystery and fiction book reviews with some non-fiction too! 