The Dictionary of Lost Words: Reese's Book Club: A Novel
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.
WINNER OF THE AUSTRALIAN BOOK INDUSTRY AWARD
“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.
WINNER OF THE AUSTRALIAN BOOK INDUSTRY AWARD
BUY THE BOOK
Community Reviews
What Bookclubbers are saying about this book
✨ Summarized by Bookclubs AI
Readers say *The Dictionary of Lost Words* is a beautifully researched historical novel that deeply explores language, gender, and social change throu...
⭐️⭐️⭐️.75 out of ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (rounding it up to 4 because the ending made me weep.)
The Dictionary of Lost Words centers around our main character, Esme Nicoll, a young girl who grew up motherless and surrounded by a world of words and her father’s work on the first edition of the Oxford Dictionary. Ever the curious young woman, Esme took a unique fascination to the Scriptorium her dad and his fellow lexicographers worked at & the countless new words found in every nook and cranny.
We watch Esme grow up before our eyes & follow her journey from childhood into her adulthood, watching her relationship with words and the Scrippy evolve as she does. Esme goes through trials and tribulations that, even though the story takes place in the late 1800’s and continues into the height of the Women’s Suffragette movement in early 1900’s, is still relevant today. It’s a beautiful story and, damn, you can tell the author did her damn research and put every ounce of blood, sweat, and tears into this baby.
I truly loved Esme as a character (especially her relationship with Lizzie). I thought she was a beautifully written protagonist with just the right amount of nuance. But, I definitely found myself resonating more with her journey later on in her life, as opposed to in the first 1/3 of the book. (Which helped pull me through to the end).
The blending of fictional characters with real-life editors & contributors to the original edition of the Dictionary definitely made parts of this book slightly easier to get through. The reason I didn’t rate this book higher is because it’s a *very* slow-paced read and my big, dumb ADHD brain definitely struggled to maintain interest despite it all (I think that’s to be expected with historical fiction, especially as well-researched as this novel).
Life Hack: I ended up downloading and following along with the audiobook for most of the book which helped me significantly
The Dictionary of Lost Words centers around our main character, Esme Nicoll, a young girl who grew up motherless and surrounded by a world of words and her father’s work on the first edition of the Oxford Dictionary. Ever the curious young woman, Esme took a unique fascination to the Scriptorium her dad and his fellow lexicographers worked at & the countless new words found in every nook and cranny.
We watch Esme grow up before our eyes & follow her journey from childhood into her adulthood, watching her relationship with words and the Scrippy evolve as she does. Esme goes through trials and tribulations that, even though the story takes place in the late 1800’s and continues into the height of the Women’s Suffragette movement in early 1900’s, is still relevant today. It’s a beautiful story and, damn, you can tell the author did her damn research and put every ounce of blood, sweat, and tears into this baby.
I truly loved Esme as a character (especially her relationship with Lizzie). I thought she was a beautifully written protagonist with just the right amount of nuance. But, I definitely found myself resonating more with her journey later on in her life, as opposed to in the first 1/3 of the book. (Which helped pull me through to the end).
The blending of fictional characters with real-life editors & contributors to the original edition of the Dictionary definitely made parts of this book slightly easier to get through. The reason I didn’t rate this book higher is because it’s a *very* slow-paced read and my big, dumb ADHD brain definitely struggled to maintain interest despite it all (I think that’s to be expected with historical fiction, especially as well-researched as this novel).
Life Hack: I ended up downloading and following along with the audiobook for most of the book which helped me significantly
At first, hard to connect with the characters and had a slow start
Enjoyed the historical setting/the plight of women’s rights
I've always been interested in words, so this was right up my alley for that aspect, alone. The historical theme and plot were enhanced by realistic and interesting characters. The close relationship between the motherless girl, Esme, and her young lady's-maid and household helper Lizzie, was so meaningful and filled with true feeling. Similarly, the close relationship between Esme and her father, Da, who spent their days in the Scriptorium, organizing words for the Oxford English Dictionary was believable and endearing as they went through the phases of life. Other interesting characters add fulfilling elements to a very rich story, which includes women's rights and the beginnings of protests against the male-dominated status quo. Very worthwhile, well-written read!
I do enjoy historical fiction, especially ones that are female character lead. I felt this book had all the elements of topics that I would love to read and see the perspectives from the creation of a relatable, relevant universal English dictionary, life during the world War, suffrage movement and feelings of career vs family in the turn of the century. I just didn't connect as much as I wanted to but I think that might be my own experience and still would highly suggest this book to others.
See why thousands of readers are using Bookclubs to stay connected.