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
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Community Reviews
This book was really charming. It was written really well where it made history interesting to me than putting me to sleep. I normally don’t like historical anything unless it’s a nonfiction book of historical events that I am interested in. Esme’s character is beautifully portrayed as being vulnerable yet strong and empowering to the female psyche. Though it wasn’t a book that wowed me in a sense of action and suspense, it did capture my attention and held on to me till the end. I would recommend it to anyone.
This book took a lot of turns I didn't expect. There were some things that weren't explained throughout (the white feather on the door?) I enjoyed the book and learning about the history of the Oxfors English Dictionary
I started this book several times, but the beginning was pretty slow, and I found myself trudging through it simply because I loved the idea of the book. I finally tried the audio version to give myself a jumpstart, and I’m so glad I did! First, let’s get out of the way that the narrator was so lovely and cozy, and this is coming from someone who generally doesn’t love audiobooks. Now let’s move on the to actual book:
The concept of exploring the complexity of the meanings of words coupled with themes of inclusion, acceptance, curiosity, and progress was enough to hook me. Again, I’ll admit that the book was slow, but there are so many endearing characters that you’ll enjoy growing alongside.
And if I’ve overstated that the book seemed slow, let me redeem it by saying the final chapters, epilogue, and authors note had me in tears, so it was worth the long ride. I may be biased as someone who finds language to be one of the most beautiful and powerful tools humans have invented, though.
A historical novel. Fiction woven with the writing and publishing of the Oxford English Dictionary. The story of Esme Nicholl whose father is working on the dictionary and who grows up to work on it herself along with other women who are never acknowledged for their knowledge and dedication. The book charts her life from pre school age through o her death charting her friendships, achievements and her growing confidence in her own abilities. She collects the words that the dictionary men deem unimportant. The words used by women and ordinary folk that are not recorded in writing. Despite a slow start Williams develops the characters well, charting Esmes growing awareness of the world as she grows and showing how she finds it lacking as far as acknowledgement of women’s lives and abilities. Along the way words are with her the whole time changing and evolving as does she and the world around her. Eventually, after her death, the daughter she had to give away achieves what Esme could never do.
An interesting read that spans a hundred years that illustrate how language and life continually evolve together.
Good and bad at the same time. Beautiful language, vivid imagery and characters, interesting historical discoveries notwithstanding, the book will remain no more than a holiday page-turner for me. Way too many cliches and soap opera tendencies in the plot do not allow to put a quality stamp on.
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