The Dictionary of Lost Words
- Downloads：1157
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-09-12 06:54:14
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Pip Williams
- ISBN：0593160193
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Summary
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。 Young 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。 She rescues the slip， and when she learns that the word means slave-girl， she withholds it from the OED and begins to collect words that show women in a more positive light。
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 with the Great War looming， The Dictionary of Lost Words reveals a lost narrative， hidden between the lines of a history written by men。 Based on actual events and combed from author Pip Williams's experience delving into the archives of the Oxford English Dictionary， this highly original novel is a delightful， lyrical， and deeply thought-provoking celebration of words and the power of language to shape the world。
In this remarkable debut based on actual events， as a team of male scholars compiles the first Oxford English Dictionary， one of their daughters decides to collect the "objectionable" words they omit。
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 with the Great War looming， The Dictionary of Lost Words reveals a lost narrative， hidden between the lines of a history written by men。 Based on actual events and combed from author Pip Williams's experience delving into the archives of the Oxford English Dictionary， this highly original novel is a delightful， lyrical， and deeply thought-provoking celebration of words and the power of language to shape the world。
In this remarkable debut based on actual events， as a team of male scholars compiles the first Oxford English Dictionary， one of their daughters decides to collect the "objectionable" words they omit。
Reviews
Rustie
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2。3 - I keep asking myself， “did I miss something？” It wasn’t bad， just not good。 I was truly expecting a story about words。 Words we as women have lost through the years due to male dominance in early society。
Brian
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*Audiobook
Kelsey
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History of words， of women， of the turn of the 20th century！
QueenOfHoney
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DNF at 38%So disappointed， I've should've read the synopsis better。 I was really enjoying this until we meet Tilda and Bill。 Don't like books about the women's suffrage movement （they generally fall flat and have copy and paste characters）。 I skimmed until the end of this and those same themes were confirmed。Disappointed。 DNF at 38%So disappointed， I've should've read the synopsis better。 I was really enjoying this until we meet Tilda and Bill。 Don't like books about the women's suffrage movement （they generally fall flat and have copy and paste characters）。 I skimmed until the end of this and those same themes were confirmed。Disappointed。 。。。more
Sacha Urban
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I love the English language and its history。 An exceptional account on the history of the OED in a historical background of WW I and suffrage movement。
Soquel
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Beautifully written and well researched but not one I'll read again。 I liked the way the dictionary， women's suffrage， and WW1 were woven into the narrative in a thematic way。 Yes， it had offensive language in it but it was not meant to offend but to define cultural understanding and show how men dismissed/erased women's words from history。 Beautifully written and well researched but not one I'll read again。 I liked the way the dictionary， women's suffrage， and WW1 were woven into the narrative in a thematic way。 Yes， it had offensive language in it but it was not meant to offend but to define cultural understanding and show how men dismissed/erased women's words from history。 。。。more
Marcia
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While the fictional story was interesting and the characters were well drawn and I cared about them， I found the underlying true story almost jarring in its revelations and long lasting consequences。 The power of words has always fascinated me and now I realize the power of lost words may be just as intense and so sadly biased。 Is there anywhere women weren’t relegated to a secondary role or worse had their roles hidden by men either deluded or so self important they could not appreciate the inp While the fictional story was interesting and the characters were well drawn and I cared about them， I found the underlying true story almost jarring in its revelations and long lasting consequences。 The power of words has always fascinated me and now I realize the power of lost words may be just as intense and so sadly biased。 Is there anywhere women weren’t relegated to a secondary role or worse had their roles hidden by men either deluded or so self important they could not appreciate the input of women。 。。。more
JV Austen
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 well， I didn't really finish， it came due at the library and I didn't bother to renew itthe subject is interesting， but the prose dragsmaybe this winter I'll give this another try well， I didn't really finish， it came due at the library and I didn't bother to renew itthe subject is interesting， but the prose dragsmaybe this winter I'll give this another try 。。。more
Laura
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This part of the author's note is what got me interested in this book （and what made me try to charge through it even when it began to lose my interest）。 She describes reading The Surgeon of Crowthorne: a tale of murder， madness & the love of words， a non-fiction book that relates to the Oxford English Dictionary。 This is one of the money quotes:[A]ll the editors were men， most of the assistants were men， most of the volunteers were men and most of the literature， manuals and newspaper articles This part of the author's note is what got me interested in this book （and what made me try to charge through it even when it began to lose my interest）。 She describes reading The Surgeon of Crowthorne: a tale of murder， madness & the love of words， a non-fiction book that relates to the Oxford English Dictionary。 This is one of the money quotes:[A]ll the editors were men， most of the assistants were men， most of the volunteers were men and most of the literature， manuals and newspaper articles used as evidence for how words were used， were written by men。 Finally， the Oxford University Press -- those who held the purse strings -- were men。 Where， I wondered， are the women in this story， and does it matter that they are absent？ 。 。 。 I decided that the absence of women did matter。 A lack of representation might mean that the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary was biased in favour of the experiences and sensibilities of men。 Older， white， Victorian-era men at that。 This novel is my attempt to understand how the way we define language might define us。 Doesn't that sound incredibly interesting？ The linguist in me was thrilled。Unfortunately， the book itself was written poorly， so I DNFd at about 25%。 Incredibly disappointing bc the concept is so important。 It struck me right now in particular as I've been considering how history has been shaped and at times distorted by those with a voice -- I don't know that I had fully considered how the exclusion of women's （and other unvalued） voices has also impacted our language itself。 Anyway， Chrissie's review here puts into words many of my thoughts， so I'll just point you to her。 。。。more
Tom
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Wonderful book。 Highest praise！
Betfarm
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This puts a whole new spin on the male/female debate This story centers around the OED and the men who created the definitions to words。 But what happens to the words they don't like， or words that are uttered mainly by women？ Well， Esme is a young child hiding under the "sorting" table of the scriptorium， found out quickly enough that such words are discarded， or unwanted definitions are discarded。 Esme， being raised to respect and revere words does not like that and begins to collect the disca This puts a whole new spin on the male/female debate This story centers around the OED and the men who created the definitions to words。 But what happens to the words they don't like， or words that are uttered mainly by women？ Well， Esme is a young child hiding under the "sorting" table of the scriptorium， found out quickly enough that such words are discarded， or unwanted definitions are discarded。 Esme， being raised to respect and revere words does not like that and begins to collect the discarded words and definitions。 The people she meets and the habits she develops all make a wonderful story about words and their impact on us。 。。。more
Barbara Jamieson
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What a really great read。 So interesting enthralling。
Melanie
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The main character was dry af。 The writing itself was ok but the story lacked。
Faith Ann
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Did not expect to love this book as much as I did！ I read The Professor and the Madman a few years ago which helped with the understanding of this book but is not a prerequisite。
Joni
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Esme grows up in the Scriptorium， a converted garden shed repurposed for a space to hold millions of words that will over many decades， become the Oxford English Dictionary。 Some of the lost or rejected words fall under the desk， and this curious little lover of words starts to collect them。 Many of the words are about or for women， and thus begins a life long quest for her to form her own Dictionary Of Lost Words。 Beautiful， intelligent elegy to words and the OED。
Lydia
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4。5 stars！ What a wonderful original story， a must read for any historical fiction fans！
emmabbooks
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Fact and fiction about the 1st Edition of the Oxford English DictionaryThis is the story of how the Oxford English Dictionary came into being， mixed in with great fiction。 Esme’s father is part of the team working on the first edition of the dictionary， and Esme （a fictional character） accompanies him to his work from when she is very young child。 So begins Esme’s fascination with words， including the lost words that don’t make it into the dictionary – for a variety of reasons。 Esme grows up aga Fact and fiction about the 1st Edition of the Oxford English DictionaryThis is the story of how the Oxford English Dictionary came into being， mixed in with great fiction。 Esme’s father is part of the team working on the first edition of the dictionary， and Esme （a fictional character） accompanies him to his work from when she is very young child。 So begins Esme’s fascination with words， including the lost words that don’t make it into the dictionary – for a variety of reasons。 Esme grows up against a background of the suffragette movement and the approach of World War 1。 She finds herself interested in looking for new words， in particular those pertaining to women， and through Esme’s eyes the reader learns how the dictionary grows from scraps of paper in a “garden shed”， to the finished product。 Mixed in with this is Esme’s personal story of the people she mixes with outside of the Scriptorium， which brings life and colour to the times she is living in， and the lives of women at that time。 At the end there is an author’s note which explains which parts of the book are based on fact， talks about the characters and Pip Williams’ reasons for writing the book。I listened to this as an audiobook， beautifully narrated， and loved the detail of putting together such a magnificent dictionary， intertwined with the stories of the lives of many woman of that time。 All in all an absolutely wonderful read – 5*s from me。 Perfect for anyone who loves a mix of fact and fiction。 。。。more
Theresa Hargitai
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A wonderful book！ For those of us that love words and elegant prose。 About the creation of the Oxford dictionary， about love， loss， women exploring their rights， the power of words。 Masterfully narrated。
Ashley
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I raced through this book in an effort just to get through it。 This book was a miss for me。 There was nothing interesting about the characters。 I thought the creation of the dictionary would be the backdrop for an interesting story， but nope。 From the rating clearly a lot of people like this book and I appreciate the author’s efforts （hence 3 stars） but this was just was too boring for me to enjoy。
Suzanne
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The originality of this book about words and the history of the writing of the Oxford dictionary captivated my attention from the get go。 This meticulously researched novel has all the elements of an well crafted historical fiction- memorable characters， vivid descriptions， and beautiful writing set during the suffragette movement and the beginning of the Great war。 A tribute to words！
Katy McFall
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Esme wrote the first Urban Dictionary！ I loved this book。 It was tough o be engaged with the first 10-15%， honestly。 But then I became very taken with the story and am sad to leave Esme and Lizzie and move on。
Mfloriano
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Loved it from the first word to the last。 I had the audio book and the narrator was excellent， which gave the story added personality。 It is extremely well written。 I thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend it to fans of historical fiction。
Jennifer Chatten
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Until the author's note at the end， I was going to give this book three stars。 However， by the time I'd read how much of the book was based in truth and how much research had gone into it， I decided to go with four stars。First - I really liked the concept of the book。 There is a lot in the press at the moment about the way the white male narrative brings unconscious bias into all our lives， and this book feels well timed to explore that， at least for white women。 I have to confess， I'd never rea Until the author's note at the end， I was going to give this book three stars。 However， by the time I'd read how much of the book was based in truth and how much research had gone into it， I decided to go with four stars。First - I really liked the concept of the book。 There is a lot in the press at the moment about the way the white male narrative brings unconscious bias into all our lives， and this book feels well timed to explore that， at least for white women。 I have to confess， I'd never really thought about this unconscious （or sometimes conscious） bias in the context of the dictionary， and it was interesting to do that。As a story， though， I found this book a bit of a slow read， and I didn't find Esme a particularly interesting character。 In some ways she was perhaps too ordinary！ She had a few interesting escapades but， as a story exploring the suffragettes and suffragists and the first world war， I didn't find it massively successful。 Those topics felt like a postscript - or something that had to be dealt with because they happened to appear in the timeline。I did like Esme's relationship with her father and I loved most elements involving Ditte， who I was pleased to discover is based on a real character。 Because of Esme's ordinariness， she was quite relateable， bit think you can tell I am struggling to be too enthusiastic about her。 The main success of this book is making us think about bias in the use of language and the history of the compilation of the Oxford English Dictionary。 I'm glad I read it， but I'm not sure I'd recommend it to anyone who isn't interested in reading about those things！ 。。。more
Claire
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Beautifully written。 I loved the characters。 All that said… I just found it slow。 3。5 would be more fair， but best I can offer。
Tyler Shaw
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I thought the core idea behind this book as a good one， but I felt like the plot itself was kinda slow。 I feel like it would have been better served as a short story。
Jenifer
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Love love love！！
Kay
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“Women’s words were indeed treated differently to those of men…”。 The framing of the dictionary was fascinating， particularly juxtaposed against the suffragette movement and that of the life of an independent woman。 I wonder how much this is still true today。 I am very glad to have read this book。
Jill Berry
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Where to start？ This is such a wonderful book on so many levels。 You must appreciate and like words to enjoy this book。 But it was so much more than words--love， loss， death and acceptance。 I think it actually merits 4 1/2 stars rather than 5 due to feeling bogged down at times with the lengthy descriptions of how the words were gathered， critiqued， catalogued， etc。 BUT， certainly worth an enjoyable and touching read！！
Megs Murison
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What an amazing book！
Chandra
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