‘Words define us, they explain us, and, on occasion, they serve to control or isolate us.’

An exceptionally moving story about one woman’s fight for words that were not considered ‘true’ in an academic sense. Set against the backdrop of the Suffragette movement and WW2, this delightful story follows Esme as she fights for her voice to be heard. She experiences immense hardship and trauma along the way, and I won’t deny that I had a few good cries over them. The fact that it is based on a real woman and her struggles makes it all the more poignant. Williams really brings her characters alive, so matter how big or small. I loved Tilda’s passion for women’s rights, her father’s love and devotion, and Lizzie’s unwavering loyalty to her mistress. Such a beautiful and moving read!

The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams

I was attracted to this book by the title and partially, by the beautiful cover. I love words and language and the blurb sounded intriguing. I expected a book about words and perhaps a woman's story interweaving with the words. What I got however, was so much more!
This book follows the life not only of Esme Nicoll but also of the Oxford English Dictionary. Esme's widowed father works at the dictionary and as a child she passes her days under the table there. While the men work she occasionally finds a lost or forgotten word, whose slip has fallen under the table into her possession. Her interest in these "lost words'' grows as she does and she starts to question which words are not included in the dictionary.
As a young woman she herself works for the dictionary whilst also collecting her own words, those usually in common usage amongst the lower classes and particularly by women.
The story is set against the background of the fight for women's suffrage in Britain, then the First World War. It uses Esme and the dictionary to question what is important. Are words that have written evidence more important than those which do not? Is the language of Esme's sometime maid and longtime friend, Lizzie, less important because it's not written down?
The book also deals with Esme's life. As a young woman growing up in the late 18 and early 19 hundreds she faces certain societal expectations. When she fails to comply with many of these she encounters difficulties and often questions how she would define herself.
The book looks at women's roles in society, their campaign for the vote and the varying lots of women of different classes. It also addresses WWI and the impact of so many young men going off to war.
It's hard to classify this book - it addresses academia, authority, equality, war, legacy and many other themes.
I expected to like it but I ended up loving it!

I received this ebook from Netgalley in return for an honest review.

This is a very unusual but compelling read about fictional Esme, the daughter of a lexicographer based around real life characters from the time of compiling the first edition of the Oxford dictionary. Motherless Esme grew up in the Scriptorium where words were analysed for inclusion and as she grew so did her fascination with words, especially when she realised not all words made it into the dictionary in particular those used in speech as the Editor dictated that only quotes that could be referenced in print could be used. Esme realised that most of the words not included were most often used by common people especially women and also that most of the references came from publications written by men, this fed her fascination with the words not included and her desire to preserve them.

Esme was a fascinating character, she had quite a lot of freedom for a woman of her time and was acquainted with a few others in a similar position yet she was also very influenced by the maid who was the mother figure in her life and it made her question things all the more. I also liked references to events of the time especially how Esme felt about suffragettes and rights for women. Overall this really makes you think about life for women then and also how little their voices mattered but without the necessity of over emphasis which makes it all the more impactful.

This book was ok, but I didn't love it.

I love words and their history so the title of this book really appealed to me. Based on the true story of the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary with a fictional character called Esme (and a few others) woven through the story. The research that must have gone into the book is very evident in the writing.

Reading about the Scriptorium and the sourcing of words and their contributors was great. However, it went on for far too long and in such detail that I began to get bored. A third of the way through and I felt like this was a story that was becoming very long winded. The story picked up a little after this and included references to the Suffrage movement which I found really interesting.

Unfortunately it wasn't long before the book once again became very drawn out in the telling of the tale. By the end of the book I had no compassion for Esme, she seemed to be a very one dimensional character. I think I enjoyed the premise of the Dictionary of Lost Words and the last pages of the book the most, together with the author's notes. This was a great story, just for me too long in the telling.

The synopsis of the story was fascinating and promising but it at the end of the day failed to particularly engage me. It seemed that it was drawn out in places. The book explores the use of words to define women’s lives and where the words did not conform to the expectations and opinions of the men compiling the first Oxford dictionary they were ignored.

As a rule I never read a book more than once, this is a book that will break that rule. I loved this book. I had to slow down my reading near the end as I didn't want to turn the last page and finish the story. I am already missing sharing my lunch breaks with Esme and Lizzie.

Set in Victorian England, Esme's life is surrounded by words. She spends her life growing up in The Scriptorium, watching and listening to her father, Dr Murray and the other scholarly men who are tasked with creating the first edition volumes of the Oxford English Dictionary.

This is an historical fiction story, which is interwoven with real events and real people. I was totally absorbed in the life of a lexicographer. Collating words, researching and validating their meanings and recording them via the printing presses into what we recognise as the dictionary.

If you only read one book this year, I would recommend this one. I never knew about the Bondmaid, but I do now. And so will you when you read this book. Thanks Netgalley for my digital copy of this book for my honest review.

In a nutshell
The red thread of the story follows a young woman from Oxford, Esme. She grew up surrounded by words, as her father was part of the team who compiled the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary. Esme takes upon herself to preserve the words that are considered not important enough by the mostly male team of lexicographers to be included in the official dictionary.

My overall impression
I absolutely loved reading this book! I started reading it with no expectations and I was blown away. It is a rich story that beautifully interweaves reality and fiction, getting close to your heart while also sharing historical moments of great importance. Esme is a true heroine, a guardian of words. She questions the status quo and is genuinely passionate to offer all words the same chance to be passed on to the next generations.

📚 When words are put together for the first time
The story of the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary is the core element of the book, and it is based on true events! Sir James Murray began this work in 1879 (he unfortunately died in 1915) and only in 1928 the dictionary was completed. Can you imagine that it took almost 50 years!!

The process of compiling the dictionary was extremely demanding – words and their definitions were stored on paper slips that had to be ordered, checked against existing publications, revised, and then sent to the press. It took 5 years to publish the first volume (A to B). Imagine the sorrow when missing words were pointed out by the readers …

💪When women fight for equal rights
The story also covers the women’s fight in the 1900s to have the right to vote. It presents the evolution and deeds of suffragettes – members of the activist women’s organization founded by Emmeline Pankhurst.

During those times, women who were studying were not even awarded degrees despite passing all exams. One of the characters says “I’ve finished, sat my exams last June. [..] No graduation, of course. No degree. But it’s satisfying to know I would have achieved both if I wore trousers”. Enraging.

💣 When war is in full swing
World War I is also captured in the book. The focus is how all resources were re-directed to support war causes, and all the other endeavours are either slowed down or stopped.

Wrap-up
The Dictionary of Lost Words is definitely one my favourite books of 2021 so far! It is a touching and inspiring story of a woman who was born ahead of her time, a woman whose determination and courage represent the stories of real women who contributed to the first Oxford English Dictionary.

A historical fiction book that I will recommend to everyone from now on!

This book blew me away in ways that I had not anticipated.

A word-lover myself, I was drawn in by the description, but was primarily expecting a lightish, heart-warming story. There are indeed heart-warming moments - thanks in large part to a wonderful cast of beautifully executed characters - but there is also so much more. The historical context was nicely played: The compilation of the Oxford English Dictionary is a continuous thread throughout, and the Suffragette movement and the First World War also play significant roles, always woven seamlessly into the well-paced story. Likewise, the important feminist message is embodied in the characters in various ways, making its impact felt without ever preaching.

I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of books that have made me cry. This was one of them - on more than one occasion. Yet there is (just!) enough hope and happiness to prevent doom and gloom from prevailing.

The Dictionary of Lost Words is a richly detailed book made for bookworms and lovers of language. One of the things I love about reading new books is discovering new words and their meanings, so this book was ideal.

“Some words are more important than others – I learned this, growing up in the Scriptorium. But it took me a long time to understand why.”

Esme is not like other girls. She is an outsider, and she knows it. The only place she feels at home is in a garden shed in Oxford named The Scriptorium. In it her father and a team of lexicographers are composing the first ever Oxford English Dictionary.

“I looked around The Scriptorium and imagined it as a genie’s lamp. It was so ordinary on the outside, but on the inside full of wonder.”

Esme spends her time sat under the table watching the feet of the men who work in The Scriptorium and trying to keep herself out of trouble.

Until one day Esme finds a slip with the word Bondmaid written on it and discovers the simple truth.

Not all words are equal. Some words are considered unworthy of being recorded – in particular those words used frequently by women and relating to their experiences.

Esme begins to collect such words and in doing so collates ‘The Dictionary of Lost Words. ‘

“Menstruosity was the condition of being menstruous. And menstruous had once meant filthy or polluted.

Menstruous. Like monstrous. It came close to explaining how I felt.”

The above word was one of many whose origins shocked and angered me.

The Dictionary of Lost Words is one of a spate of recent novels outlining the experiences the of women who so often have been omitted from the history books and Pip Williams does a phenomenal job. History comes to life in the form of Esme, Lizzie, Mabel and Ditte, among others.

Esme is unconventional but she finds her home among the words, a way of defining herself as she in turn defines the words.

“I often wonder what kind of slip I would be written on if I was a word, something too long, certainly. Probably the wrong colour. A scrap of paper that didn’t quite fit. I worried that perhaps I would never find my place in the pigeon-holes at all.”

The Dictionary of Lost Words was remarkable and certainly cannot be described as somnolent or soniferous.

I really enjoyed this book once I had started it. I loved the character of Esme and her fascination with words and their meanings. She spends her childhood in the Scriptorium where her father works helping to put together a dictionary of words and their meanings. She finds a slip of ‘bond maid’ discarded which starts her collecting various neglected words. She finds that words are chosen by men and are verified largely by male sources. She ends up being obsessed by filling the gaps with words used by ordinary folk and particularly women.

Against this backdrop she grows up, suffers and then finds happiness.

An uplifting story but sad at times.

I will be recommending it.

I enjoyed this - I really liked Esme and her relationship with words. However, I found it quite a slow read. I loved it when i was reading it, but wasn’t compelled to pick it up very often so it took me a while to get through. I would still recommend it and would read more by this author. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the eARC of this book.

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

The dictionary of lost words by Pip Williams is refreshing and thought-provoking story that emphasises the importance of words. This is the story of Esme who starts collecting discarded word slips by the male lexicographers in the Scriptorium.

When she learns that there are no entries made for the words written/used by women in the first Oxford dictionary;her curiosity grows into a habit and soon starts collecting the words that are mostly used by women. Soon she decides to make the dictionary of lost words that she collected since her childhood.

The author has brilliantly penned the male dominated employment and women suffrage movement during WWI. I’m truly amazed with narrating style and what hooked me to this book how much effort and time goes to put one single word into a dictionary and I have learnt lot of new words through this book.

Thank you @netgalley and @penguinrandomhouse for providing the Arc. I highly recommend this book to everyone and take your time to dive into the beautiful story of words.

My thanks to Random House U.K./Chatto & Windus for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘The Dictionary of Lost Words’ by Pip Williams in exchange for an honest review. As I began reading on its publication day I purchased its unabridged audiobook edition to allow for an immersive experience.

‘The Dictionary of Lost Words’ was originally published in Australia in 2020, quickly becoming an award winning bestseller.

This was such a delight from start to finish. It was inspired by a small fact that the author came across about a word that had been left out of the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary.

Its main character and narrator is Esme, who from a young age spends her time 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.

One day a slip containing the word bondmaid flutters to the floor, unclaimed. Esme takes it and hides it in a wooden trunk that belongs to Lizzie, a young servant who is also her friend. Over the years Esme continues to collect other words from the Scriptorium that are misplaced, discarded or have been neglected by the dictionary men.

She comes to realise that words and meanings related to women's experiences often go unrecorded. So she begins to collect words for another dictionary: The Dictionary of Lost Words.

This historical novel is set against the final years of the 19th-Century and early years of the 20th-Century incorporating the Great War and the Women’s Suffrage movement. It is also a moving love story and is full of interesting characters, including the working class women that Lizzie introduces Esme to at the covered market. She gains quite an education from them!

While Esme, her father, Lizzie and others are fictional characters, Pip Williams has incorporated many of the real life people involved with the creation of the OED into her narrative. Clearly a great deal of research has gone into this novel’s creation as Williams details in her Author’s Notes.

Following her Acknowledgments Pip Williams has also included timelines of the Oxford English Dictionary and of the major historical events featured in the novel.

This proved a highly engaging read as I found myself completely fascinated by the story of the creation of the OED. It is bound to appeal to book lovers and those interested in how words become official. It is certainly beautifully written and while a work of literary fiction remains accessible. Hopefully it will be gaining further accolades in the near future.

Highly recommended.

Even if you only read one book this year – make sure it’s this book.


“Some words are more important than others – I learned this growing up in the Scriptorium.”

Esme’s Nicoll’s mother, Lily died shortly after her birth, leaving Esme’s father, Harry with the full responsibility of raising her. He and Dr James Murray’s friendship dated back to the time they had both been teachers in Scotland. Harry Nicoll followed his friend to Oxford when he became the editor for the New Oxford English Dictionary.

With no mother to look after her, Esme spends her days with her father in the Scriptorium – under the table – where slips of paper holding a word and its meaning ready for the new dictionary might fall. Esme forms an attachment to these slips of paper with one “bondmaid”, taking precedence. It is the first word she ever hides in the trunk belonging to Lizzie who had been taken into service by the Murrays at the age of eleven. Lizzy might be illiterate because she’d never received any education, but she’s bright, feisty and the closest person Esme ever has to a friend or sister.

I mention Esme hiding the word “bondmaid” in Lizzy’s trunk because this is the heart of the book, Esme’s discovery of words that are left out of the updated dictionary. Words that are crass or common. Words that relate to women. She starts at an early age to discover “lost words” because she realises that the only words making it into the dictionary are those used by the educated.

This book will live within me forever. I have always loved words. I’ve loved finding out their meaning and the more obscure, the more I’ve latched onto their use. Pip Williams’ book is not just a wonderful tale about Esme and her life first under the table of the Scriptorium until she too joins the lexicographers at the table, it is also a fascinating history of Dr (later Sir) James Murray’s work compiling the first Oxford English Dictionary since the version published by Samuel Johnson in 1755.

The Dictionary is not the only story we follow through the pages but also that of the suffragists and suffragettes. The First World War also plays a huge role in the storyline.

There are many characters because of the period and subjects covered in the book. Esme is the narrator and I loved her from the first word she utters. However, there are so many others who play an important part in telling this tale. Lizzie, an uneducated girl, Edith, Esme’s remarkable godmother. Gareth, the man who wins Esme’s heart to name but a few. It’s based on real people within fiction. Only brilliant authors can get away with this and Pip Williams is unquestionably a brilliant author.

I say that I love words but I honestly can’t find enough to express how truly outstanding this book is. I sometimes can’t believe my luck that I get to read books to review them – however, books like this are not just “something to read” this book has stolen my soul and filled my head with visions of people living in an era I know so little.

Rony

Elite Reviewing Group received a copy of the book to review.

The Dictionary of Lost Words was an absolute joy to read. Based on true accounts interspersed with the fictional story of Esme we learn about the mammoth task of publishing the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary. But certain words don't make it into the official version, and Esme collects and stores these words. At this time, the suffragette movement is gaining momentum and Esme finds herself collecting words that have more meaning to women. She goes through an extremely traumatic experience that will shape and change her forever. There is so much to talk about when it comes to this beautiful book. The reader cannot fail to be moved by Esme's story, and I felt completely immersed in the plot. With WWI breaking out there was an added layer to the story that was to have a hugely personal cost for Esme but made it all the more poignant.

Absolutely fascinating and beautifully crafted, I loved this story from start to finished.

"The Dictionary of Lost Words" by Pip Williams is a bittersweet tale that takes us back to the late Victorian era and WWI. Most of the story takes place in the holy place of scholarship, Oxford. It is a tale about the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary from a different perspective, less male-centred. In the end, it is a tale about the power of words and how these can shape our society, how words can be used to control or exclude certain members of the society, like women. In other words, it demonstrates how dangerous words can be as they are the vehicle of ideas.
As a linguist myself, I was drawn to this book from the first moment I read the title, and I wasn't disappointed at all. It has been thought-provoking, emotional, and interesting to read from the very beginning until the end. Historical fiction at its best!

Honestly, I don’t really know what I was expecting when I opened this book. Whatever it was, I got more than I could have ever imagined. The first 30% of the book is a little slow, but you realise later that it’s setting the scene perfectly for what is to come. PLEASE stick with it.

Esme is a little girl who has grown up with words. ‘Hiding’ by her Father’s feet under the table in side the Scriptorium. One day, a slip of paper tantalizingly flutters to the floor. There is a word written on it, which Esme takes. In this moment ‘bondmaid’ is removed from the Dictionary.

“The Scriptorium felt magical, like everything that ever was and ever could be had been stored within its walls.”

As Esme collects more of these lost slips, she realizes each word relates to women. This is in a time where the lives, thoughts and language of women was ignored. With the suffrage movement rising and Great War looming, Esme does what she can by giving the women around her a voice.

The book is largely based on real people, and there is a beautiful tribute to them at the end of the book. Williams extensive research is clear from every page: so much interesting information, is woven into this wonderful tale. Laugh, cry and incidentally, learn a lot in this brilliant debut and future classic.

“Never forget that, Esme. Words are our tools of resurrection.”

Esme Nicoll is brought up by her widowed father, and spends much of her childhood hiding under the table of the Scriptorium, the shed where he works with his fellow lexicographers to compile the first Oxford English Dictionary. As she grows older, Esme starts to squirrel away and preserve slips of paper containing mislaid, ignored and rejected words, which help her to make sense of herself and the world. As an adult she joins her father with his work but also pursues her own interest in her growing dictionary of lost words, which she begins to understand relate to those who do not have a voice in society, the working class and more specifically women. As the twentieth century dawns with the rise of the suffragettes and World War I, her ideas begin to take shape. This is a well-written and often vividly drawn book, but I did find the detail on the dictionary work too drawn-out and dry and I felt the characters did not really come alive for me. The emphasis on language which seems to have enchanted many readers left me cold but I feel that is more to do with my personal taste than a failing of the book.

This is a book about words and a book about making of the Oxford Dictionary. About the people that made it and about the ways it was made. It is also a story about feminism, about living a life that is different and trying to find ones place in the ever changing world. ⁣⁣
⁣⁣
There are some wonderful parts of this book. The first one in particular. There are some boring ones too. The last one, in particular. I wished more excitement and more warmth from the characters. I wished for more passion and more heat. Not only in personal relations but also in fight. It just felt like a promising book and it ended as being a book about nerdy people doing nerdy work and their reactions to the happenings around them. Which were basically to involve as little as possible.

I'm not saying it is a bad book. But it has so much potential and the writing is beautiful....it just misses something. For me, at least.

Big thnx to NetGalley and the publisher for an arc of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

I was really hoping to love this book a lot more than I did. The premise is fascinating and a worthy story to be told but there were a few things that stopped me from loving this book.

The book is far too long and was either repetitive or dragged in places. It also tried to cover way too much in one story without giving each of the elements the time and depth they deserved. This is a story that covers the protagonists whole life, the creation of the first Oxford Dictionary, the suffragette movement, unheard women's voices, romances, women's oppression in the workplace and WW1 and it felt like far too much and frequently lost its way. I felt that with more editing to give the plot focus this could have gone from an OK to a brilliant book.

The aspect of the plot that I really enjoyed was Esme's research into the language and words used by women, particularly working class women, that were not recorded or acknowledged at that time. The story opened up a fascinating exploration of the importance of language to define women's lives and experiences and the detrimental impact of these words being ignored or dismissed by the men creating the first Oxford dictionary. Esme's determination to create a record of these words and the obstacles preventing her from getting the recognition these words deserve was the most interesting part of the plot but it often got swept aside when the other multiple plot threads starting competing for attention.

Overall this is an intriguing basis for a story but I was not a fan of the execution.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House UK for the ARC.