Pip Williams

The Dictionary of Lost Words

In 1901, the word 'Bondmaid' was discovered missing from the Oxford English Dictionary. This is the story of the girl who stole it. Esme is born into a world of words. Motherless and irrepressibly curious, she spends her childhood in the 'Scriptorium', a garden shed in Oxford where her father and a team of dedicated lexicographers are collecting words for the very first Oxford English Dictionary. Esme's place is beneath the sorting table, unseen and unheard. One day a slip of paper containing the word 'bondmaid' flutters to the floor. Esme rescues the slip and stashes it in an old wooden case that belongs to her friend, Lizzie, a young servant in the big house. Esme begins to collect other words from the Scriptorium that are misplaced, discarded or have been neglected by the dictionary men. They help her make sense of the world. Over time, Esme realises that some words are considered more important than others, and that words and meanings relating to women's experiences often go unrecorded. While she dedicates her life to the Oxford English Dictionary, secretly, she begins to collect words for another dictionary: The Dictionary of Lost Words. Set when the women's suffrage movement was at its height and the Great War loomed, The Dictionary of Lost Words reveals a lost narrative, hidden between the lines of a history written by men. It's a delightful, lyrical and deeply thought-provoking celebration of words, and the power of language to shape the world and our experience of it.

Kenzie Newberry

My words came from nooks and crannies and from the discard basket in the centre of the sorting table.

Nour

I reckon the only time any of us feel really safe is when our mum's hugging us.

We can’t always make the choices we’d like, but we can try to make the best of what we must settle for.

Women don't have to live lives determined by others. They have choices, and I choose not to live the rest of my days doing as I’m told and worrying about what people will think. Thať's no life at all.

«I find that the more I define, the less I know. I spend my days trying to understand how words were used by men long dead, in order to draft a meaning that will suffice not just for our times but for the future?» He took my hands in his and stroked the scars, as if Lily was still imprinted in them. «The Dictionary is a history book, Esme. If it has taught me anything, it is that the way we conceive of things now will most certainly change. How will they change? Well, I can only hope and speculate, but I do know that your future will be different from the one your mother might have looked forward to at your age. If your new friends have something to teach you about it, I suggest you listen. But trust your judgement, Essy, about what ideas and experiences should be included, and what should not. I will always give you my opinion, if you ask for it, but you are a grown woman. While some would disagree, I believe it is your right to make your own choices, and I can't insist on approving.»

A vulgar word, well placed and said with just enough vigour, can express far more than its polite equivalent.

«Words are like stories, don’t you think, Mr Sweatman? They change as they are passed from mouth to mouth; their meanings stretch or truncate to fit what needs to be said. The Dictionary can't possibly capture every variation, especially since so many have never been written down -»

“If you're not going to get married, then why not aim to become an editor?” Mr Sweatman asked.

"The Dictionary of Lost Words is a work of fiction. All incidents and dialogue, and all characters with the exception of some well-known historical figures, are products of the author's imagination and are not to be construed as real. Before the lost word, there was another. It arrived at the Scriptorium in a second-hand envelope, the old address crossed out and Dr Murray, Sunnyside, Oxford, written in its place. It was Da's job to open the post and mine to sit on his lap, like a queen on her throne, and help him ease each word out of its folded cradle. He'd tell me what pile to put it on and sometimes he'd pause, cover my hand with his, and guide my finger up and down and around the letters, sounding them into my ear. He'd say the word, and I would echo it, then he'd tell me what it meant"--

A Novel

Syrina

Overall a really bland story that was somehow super predictable. I felt that it was super repetitive at parts, but not enough detail for others. I couldn’t believe how fast people’s deaths were covered but we got pages about foliage and/or definitions. Not my favorite 

Paige Paul

Caroline

Ever since I finished reading this book, I'm unable to wrap my head around it, as to whether I seriously loved it as much as all the positive reviews I have read. There are a lot of things that I loved about this book and then there is things that just didn't work for me in the book. 

📖 The storyline and the concept of this book was well thought of and well researched. I found the concept very different from all the historical fiction book I have read till date. The author did a great job highlighting the making of the first Oxford dictionary, where men and women worked tirelessly, though the men always took the major credit for the dictionary, where as the women and their words were sidelined. Through, this book, the author not only just captured the brutality of the war but also showed a progressing world through the power and knowledge of words. 

📖 The writing and the tone that the author choose was also amicable and spot on. Though, the book was a slow burner. I did enjoy the first part and the later half of the book. I also liked that I got to learn so words in Esperanto like Sekura, Amico, Akvo, Dankon.

📖 The book had a lot of loveable characters. But for me, the main character of this book, Esme at times did not feel strong enough. I felt the mood of this book fell as per the moods of Esme and that the book needed characters like Mabel, Tilda, Lizzie, Ditte to bring about some cheer and joy and without which I wouldn't be able to complete reading this book. I loved the relationship between Esme and Lizzie and Gareth. I would have loved to have read more of Esme and Gareth's love story. When I initially began reading this book, I was hoping that Emse would bring about some kind of revolt to incorporate women words or the words contributed by women into the oxford dictionary and would stand up for a space in the dictionary but I just felt that the character of Esme got too caught up in her personal traits and loses which in turn made her look very fragile for most parts of the book. 

📖 However, the author has surely done justice to the factual character in the book and without whom contribution we would never have had a dictionary, which we seem to have forgotten these with the invention of the internet.

📖 Overall, an well thought after book and I would surely recommend it, if you are someone who loves words and is in mood for a slow burner.

Francesca Starecheski

Much needed, as my words, indeed, are lost.

Slow start. Last 100 pages are great. Lots of character building and background information in the first half of the book. 

Ashlee williams

Colleen

2 Stars
 
*An amazing premise dragged down by an insipid main character lacking agency and personality *

ARC provided by Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.


I love words. Coming from a family of bookworms, it is no surprise that I love reading. But more than that, I love words themselves. Each word is an adventure that follows a twisted path through thousands of years of history and culture. Language is an ever-fluent universe constantly flowing and evolving while generation after generation seeks to find the perfect word for whatever moment they experience. Words are tricky. Words are complicated. Words are beautiful.


  “Words define us, they explain us, and, on occasion, they serve to control or isolate us.”

I was so ecstatic to read The Dictionary of Lost Words. It sounded like it was absolutely perfect for me and checked off everything I want in a book. It is the story of a young girl growing up amongst her father’s work on the Oxford Dictionary and a feminist evaluation of how the lack of women involved in the project had a huge effect on narrowing official English to a male perspective. My heart literally surged when I first read the synopsis for this book, because it sounded utterly perfect for me. But sadly, this book did not live up to my (admittedly sky-high) expectations. Although the premise and the start of the book were good, I struggled to even finish this, because the main character was so apathetic and utterly lacking in agency and personality. Then the story turned into this crawling misery-fest with Tess of the d'Ubervilles vibes of doom and desolation. And that is NOT a story of which I care to be reminded.

If this hadn’t been an ARC, I would have abandoned before the halfway point. Yet I trudged on hoping desperately that the story would turn around and be inspiring. Unfortunately, the vast majority of it was a tedious slog. I simply didn't care about the characters. And since this is an entirely character-driven story, there was nothing left to connect to. The fact that the whole story (other than a few letters and the epilogue) was told in first person from Esme’s perspective meant that the reader spent the entire time locked into her dull, spineless monologue. I quickly lost all patience for Esme. She made me want to literally scream at some points. Her refusal to take any action or responsibility in her life yet playing the martyr when it suited her was extremely frustrating. I won’t give away spoilers, but Esme’s destruction of her life due to small events was so selfish. And her refusal to acknowledge how fortunate she was both economically and by being surrounded by people who loved her unconditionally made it all the harder to summon even an ounce of sympathy for her.

I wanted more from the exploration of the words. It is undeniable that the dictionary being almost entirely written by men led to a skewed result. Those men were the gatekeepers who decided which words were acceptable and which definitions were relevant. Women having little to no voice in those decisions led to a lasting legacy of inherent sexism in the English language. The entire premise “that words and meanings relating to women's and common folks' experiences often go unrecorded” was underserviced.

The subplot about suffragism was also disappointing. This was mainly due to Esme’s involvement being yet another instance of her mindlessly going with other people’s opinions and desires. Geez, that woman was monumentally lacking in spine.

The story is based around the real-life history of the construction of the first Oxford English Dictionary. Several real people are included in the story. The historical details both surrounding the dictionary and general time period were well-researched. The writing itself was well-done and also beautiful at times. It was just too bad that Esme’s self-destructive malaise and lack of personality ruined most of the book.


  “I realized that the words most often used to define us were words that described our function in relation to others. Even the most benign words- maiden, wife, mother - told the world whether we were virgins or not. What was the male equivalent of maiden? I could not think of it. What was the male equivalent of Mrs., of whore, of common scold?... Which words would define me? Which would be used to judge or contain?”

Look, I won’t deny that the end of The Dictionary of Lost Words is good. Really good. But I hated at least 80% of this book, and spent several weeks dragging myself through it. As good as the ending (and the very beginning) of this book was, that wasn’t enough for me to justify raising my rating to three stars. I can see why some people will love this book. And I won’t hate on them for that. I really, truly wished I could have been among this book’s fans. I would even be interested in giving Williams’ work another try in the future, because despite my issues with this book, it still had a lot of potential for a debut. But that doesn’t change the fact that my predominate emotion upon finishing The Dictionary of Lost Words was disappointment.


RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 2 Stars
Writing Style: 3 Stars
Characters and Character Development: 1 Star
Plot Structure and Development: 2 Stars
Level of Captivation: 1 Star
Originality: 3 Stars

Sarah Pino

This book was an inspiration from before I opened it. Fantastically researched. 

The thing is that I love historical fiction so I knew I'd love this. Or so I thought. 

It was extremely slow. But that may have just been my flaw. 

Anyway, feminists who dream of being lexicographers, this book is for us.

The kind of book you can't put down, even though the end leaves you sobbing. The dictionary elements are very enjoyable for lovers of English. 

Elizabeth Park

Rachel Kanyid

It took me a while to get into this, but I did enjoy it.

"In 1901, the word bondmaid was discovered missing from the Oxford English Dictionary. This is the story of the girl who stole it. Motherless and irrepressibly curious, Esme spends her childhood in the Scriptorium, a garden shed in Oxford where her father and a team of lexicographers are gathering words for the very first Oxford English Dictionary. Esme’s place is beneath the sorting table, unseen and unheard. One day, she sees a slip containing the word bondmaid flutter to the floor unclaimed. Esme seizes the word and hides it in an old wooden trunk that belongs to her friend, Lizzie, a young servant in the big house. Esme begins to collect other words from the Scriptorium that are misplaced, discarded or have been neglected by the dictionary men. They help her make sense of the world. Over time, Esme realises that some words are considered more important than others, and that words and meanings relating to women’s experiences often go unrecorded. She begins to collect words for another dictionary: The Dictionary of Lost Words. Set when the women’s suffrage movement was at its height and the Great War loomed, The Dictionary of Lost Words reveals a lost narrative, hidden between the lines of a history written by men. It’s a delightful, lyrical and deeply thought-provoking celebration of words, and the power of language to shape our experience of the world."

Taylor

Evil Lizzard

A wonderful book about language, women’s lives, and social classes against the backdrop of the sufragists’ and sufragettes’ movements and WW1. The writing is beautiful, and I kept getting lost in Esme’s world, forgetting about my own. I almost missed my train stop twice, because of that! The story is beautiful and believable, and it made me cry several times out of sadness, and out of joy.

Wonko the Sane

Continuing 2022’s string of strong book club picks. I was going to rate it a nice solid four, until I blubbed my way through the final quarter. It made me care about a straight couple, which is a feat that earns the fifth star on its own.

Tess McMahon

I have to admit, I was hesitant to read this book as I sometimes struggle getting through historical fiction, but this book had me mesmerised. I totally escaped into Esme’s world of words, and I truly felt like I was there in Oxford. The book broaches some important themes of the time, through some really believable characters. I also absolutely loved the section at the back with the timeline of the Oxford dictionary and the photograph - it just shows how impeccably-researched the book was. One of the most original things I’ve read in a long time.

Nursyuhada Zainul

here's my quick review:

1- learned so many new old words that are probably no longer in the dictionary.
2- very much pissed off with how a man decides what goes in the dictionary and completely brushed off words that describe a woman.
3- I'm expecting more, however, this is a very dry read for me, I mean honestly, I skipped a few pages till I get to read the exciting part.
4- I stopped at 56%, could've just finished the entire book, but I decided not to waste my time knowing clearly I'm not enjoying the book.

Hence, 2 ⭐

Cheri McElroy

Esme grows up around men who collect words for the first Oxford Dictionary. But she soon discovers that words relating to women and common people are often overlooked. So she begins her search for these lost words.

Esme is a wonderful character set in the women's suffrage movement and I was cheering her on. The novel is well-researched and written. I loved it..

Allison

Did not expect to cry reading this. A great read about how English words have been skewed negatively towards women with historical sprinkles of the British suffragette movement and World War I. Author followed the true timeline of historical events as they played out. A timeline is added at the end of the novel and also points out what bits of the novel were true, fictional, and based on actual people but with embellishments.

Tegan Bell

This is a really important read, and one I will have no hesitation in recommending. A great insight into the history of women’s roles in lexicography, and how important equality is to achieve our greatest level of understanding and whole communication. The reason I give this a 3/5 is because I found a few storyline’s within the novel were ended too abruptly, or not given adequate detailing for the roles they served. Other than this, wonderful book.

In 1901, the word bondmaid was discovered missing from the Oxford English Dictionary. This is the story of the girl who stole it. Motherless and irrepressibly curious, Esme spends her childhood in the Scriptorium, a garden shed in Oxford where her father and a team of lexicographers are gathering words for the very first Oxford English Dictionary. Esme's place is beneath the sorting table, unseen and unheard. One day, she sees a slip containing the word bondmaid flutter to the floor unclaimed. Esme begins to collect other words from the Scriptorium that are misplaced, discarded or have been neglected by the dictionary men. Over time, Esme realises that some words are considered more important than others - that words and meanings relating to women's experiences often go unrecorded. She begins to collect words for another dictionary: The Dictionary of Lost Words. Set when the women's suffrage movement was at its height and the Great War loomed, The Dictionary of Lost Words reveals a lost narrative, hidden between the lines of a history written by men.

Mykaela Pollard

Stephanie Ridiculous

What a sad read!

I loved the idea of exploring how language is developed, authenticated, recorded, and validated by men - leaving the language of women, of the poor, of the marginalized, out of history. I don't know how that could have been explored more, but I wish it had been. 

I felt like so much of Esme's journey was maddeningly sad, lonely, heartbreaking, difficult - I do think that was the point, but it made for an at times difficult read. Folks all across history had difficult lives. Their stories would not make for enjoyable reading, or at least they wouldn't make for feel good reading, and I really felt that here. There are a lot of choices Williams made that seemed unnecessarily rough for Esme, but it was important to remember that satisfying and uplifting conclusions are often lacking in real life. I appreciated that about this book; it's very real and tangible, mixing the sad and frustrating with the brief joys that punctuate life.

One other thing that I appreciate about Williams here is the ability to convey what's going on without being crude, crass, or graphic. There is some strong language, there are devastating losses; but there's no graphic sex, no gratuitous violence - Williams gives us enough to paint the picture and trusts us to fill in the blanks & I love that.

Eva Bailey

3.5 stars. A beautiful novel with such an original premise. I found myself immediately drawn to the protagonist Esme. Haven't read a historical fiction in a while and this was a goody.

Celeste Richardson

I received a digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Dictionary of Lost Words is a beautiful book. But I was not prepared for the levels of heartbreak that were going to be present. I kept having to put the book down to try to find my way back into a more positive headspace. Had I read the book in any other stage in my life, I think I would have been able to divorce myself more easily from it and enjoy it more. However, everyone knows this year has been horrendous, and for some reason I was just unable to cope with the relentless hard knocks suffered by the poor protagonist. There was something about the bright tone of the book that made those blows even more terrible, and that’s what kept the novel from being a five star read for me. It was emotionally draining.
“Words define us, they explain us, and, on occasion, they serve to control or isolate us. But what happens when words that are spoken are not recorded? What effect does that have on the speaker of those words?”
I love the idea behind The Dictionary of Lost Words.  After reading The Surgeon of Crowthorne, titled The Professor and the Madman in the U.S., Williams found herself intrigued by the history of the Oxford English Dictionary. But she walked away from the reading experience with more questions than answers, especially regarding the lack of female involvement in the OED endeavor. If there were so few women involved, could it be that words mostly used by the under-represented sex were left out? What about words mostly used by other marginalized groups? Were words considered vulgar or distasteful purposely ignored, as well? We know what is present in the OED, but what words were left on the cutting room floor is a mystery. And even for words that do appear in the OED, what meanings were omitted? Over the course of her research, Williams compiled what little information she could on the few women involved in the project, and decided to pen a work of fiction addressing her thoughts about some of these questions, and included as much true information as she could. 
“Words are like stories… They change as they are passed from mouth to mouth; their meanings stretch or truncate to fit what needs to be said.”
The fictional character who is the protagonist of the story and the lens through which Williams conveys her questions is Esme, a girl whose father worked on the OED project. Esme was raised in the Scriptorium, the small workshop where the Dictionary was compiled. Words and their meanings were her obsession from a very early age, and it was wonderful to see how that love grew and changed as she herself did. But it seemed to me that the author piled way too much tragedy onto her. I know life was terribly difficult for women during the period in which this book is set, and that such suffering would have seemed minimal compared to what other women endured in reality. However, I didn’t go into this book expecting that level of heartache. Perhaps if I had, I would have engaged with the story in a much different way. But for some reason I expected charming and light, I ended up feeling blindsided.
“… words are meaningless without action.”
“And sometimes action can make a lie of good words.”
Even though I was emotionally unprepared for Esme’s story, I was completely captivated by her views on words and their importance. She felt that her calling was to preserve the words that others felt were unimportant, and I loved getting her inner thoughts regarding her motivations and why she loves words so fervently. I’ve always been enamored by words, and it was really gratifying to be inside the mind of someone who shares that passion. I thought she and her passion were very well conveyed, and I really enjoyed her as a character.
“What words would define me? Which would be used to judge or contain?”
The Dictionary of Lost Words is a beautiful treatise on the importance of all words, no matter who uses them. It’s beautifully written, and truly transported me to another time and place. While readers should be aware that the story is not for the faint of heart and can wreak havoc on the heart, it is absolutely worth reading.

You can find  this review and more at Novel Notions.

Cindy Lieberman

This read much like a fantasy novel at first: a young girl hiding under a big oak table collecting "butterflies" of paper that float down to her with words. But it's the story of the Men in Oxford who are compiling a dictionary to improve on Samuel Johnson's initial OED...as seen through the eyes of Esme, the daughter of one of the dictionary's editors. More than that, it is a feminist perspective of language: the men who edit the "official" dictionary decide what words are worth including and the definitions to accompany them, often from a male-only perspective. I had not thought much about "women's words" yet they can be loaded, disparaging, limiting. Esme collected them and brought many to life. A well-researched an beautifully written novel of historical fiction that is (eventually) a delight for those with an interest in words, language development, gender inequality, Oxford, and the like.

Nadine 

Definitely one of the “must reads” for this year. Slow but lovely pacing where the unconventional is encased in the everyday routines while the world undergoes significant shifts.

Elise Eanes

** spoiler alert **
           3.75, rounded up. I loved parts of this book, and strongly disliked others. Where I really got annoyed was where Bill and Tilda entered. Luckily, you didn’t see much more of them after their parts in a few chapters were completed. I understand we need Bill for his… seed, but he was obnoxious to me. Not as obnoxious as Tilda. I have yet to enjoy a character in a book that is an actress. But, I recognize her part to play in getting Esme involved in women’s suffrage. Still, I really didn’t feel like picking up the book again when these two were around.

Josie McQueen

This story follows Esme - an intelligent and curious daughter of a lexicographer working on the first edition of the Oxford Dictionary. Her life story is narrated wonderfully by Williams, capturing the story of feminine struggle and the English language brilliantly. The story was well written and the flow of the storyline across years was executed pretty well. I loved the Epilogue (an inclusion that resonated with my values and suppliex readers with a rare - maybe purposely forgotten - story)

The Dictionary of Lost Words

Reviews

Highlights