User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
i absolutely adored the first 1/3 of this.
i loved reading about esme growing up amongst the work of her father and falling in love with words and their meanings. i enjoyed her relationship with her dad and how they bonded over their mutual affection for language.
but then once esme became older and the years progressed, this story became more focused on esmes personal trials, such as pregnancy, womens suffrage, depression, and the casualties of england at war. which are all important topics, but i just wasnt connecting to this narrative as much as i was with esme childhood. maybe its because the last 2/3 have such a dreary tone compared to the beginning and i just wasnt feeling it.
overall, not a bad book by any means; i just found my personal interest slowly declining throughout. although, the epilogue and the authors note at the end are exceptionally interesting and did help me appreciate the story more.
↠ 3.5 stars
Rating: really liked it
The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams
It never occurred to me all that went into compiling early dictionaries. Male scholars worked for decades to compile the words and definitions to go into the first Oxford English Dictionary, words and definitions whose final acceptance was at the discretion of the editors of the volumes. This story describes the garden shed in Oxford where real life lexicographer, James Murray, built a Scriptorium, a shed behind his house, where he and his team of scholars could work on amassing words and definitions. Murray and his wife had eleven children who were very involved in Murray's work.
The fictional part of this story concerns, Esme, whose father is widowed at Esme's birth. Esme's father is a member of Murphy's team and he brings Esme to work with him each day. As a youngster, Esme spends time under the big table of the workers and often gathers discarded word slips and hides them away in a chest in the room of house servant Lizzie. Lizzie, although just eight years older than Esme, is a combination of mother, companion, and maid to Esme, especially once Esme is banished from the Scriptorium for interfering with the work there.
Later, an unofficial dictionary is compiled of all the words that Esme gathers from the discards of the Scriptorium, and from women and poor people of Oxford and surrounding areas. Words that wouldn't be considered for the Oxford English Dictionary because they are just spoken, not written (since they are used by people who would never learn to write) and words that are considered too crude or offensive to be included in the dictionary. The means to this dictionary being created is one of my favorite parts of the story and concerns Gareth, another of my favorite characters, along with Lizzie. Towards the end of the book, Gareth writes one of the saddest letters I've ever read.
I thought the work of the lexicographers and assistants was fascinating and this book encouraged me to research the creation of dictionaries further. As the author's note mentions at the end of the story, many of the people and events in this book were real. But Esme, her father, her friend Gareth, and servant Lizzie were fictional. I admired the characters of Lizzie, Gareth, and Esme's father for what seemed to be hard work during lifetimes of trying circumstances.
Esme too had her trials, often due to choices she made, but I felt like the story was brought down by her constant sadness and long bouts of depression. The character of Lizzie, losing her mother to death at the age of eleven and her siblings to orphanages and becoming a lifelong servant at that young age, is a much more compelling story, for me. This is a girl/woman whose life consists of arising long before her masters, to get things ready for the household, working more than sixteen hours a day, not being able to go to bed until after everyone else in the household. This is her life, day in, day out, as long as she is able to get out of bed and do it again. Constant sleep deprivation and no life of her own, no chance of a husband or family and yet, Lizzie's attitude to life is an inspiration.
Lizzie's story ties in well with the part of the story about suffragists attempting to change things for women. But Lizzie wants no part of that, she is practical and knows that she can only be thankful not to be living on the streets. Esme, even though she is working class, has her loving dad, a home, eventually a job working in the Scriptorium, yet she never seems happy. If only the fictional character of Esme could have learned how to better cope with her blessings, I might have enjoyed her part in the story more. I appreciated getting to learn about this time in our history and the real people who worked to give us the Oxford English Dictionary. I give this story 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 stars. This was a great buddy read with DeAnn and Mary Beth.
Publication: April 6, 2021
Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and NetGalley for this ARC.
Rating: really liked it
This is brilliantly well- researched, detailed, refreshing journey emphasizing the importance of words, empowerment and raising the voices of women during the World War I with layered, impeccably crafted, memorable true characters who changed the world with their special and remarkable contributions.
I have to admit: this book needs your patience, attention, full focus. Especially first third is overwhelmingly slow but when you get into the story and lose yourself in the precious world of words, connecting with Esme and the preparation process of first Oxford dictionary, your curiosity takes over and you get more excited to learn more by becoming part of the world and linguistics.
Esme is a little girl, creating herself a secluded universe at a garden shed of Oxford called “ Scriptorium”. Her invisible, unheard, unnoticed place was beneath the sorting table where his father and a loyal team of lexicographers work on collecting words for the first Oxford Dictionary.
One day, Esme finds a slip of paper fluttered on the floor. The word “bondmaid” is written on it. She hides the paper, stashing at Lizzie’s trunk. ( Lizzie is the maid working for them, raising her after her mother passed away)
Later she finds other tossed slip of papers so stashing them is turning into her special game. Later she realizes each word she stashed relating with women unrecorded. That gives her idea to form her own dictionary consists of lost words mostly about women’s world!
With the suffrage movement’s rising and Great War’s looming, a new history starts written itself with the unrecorded, abandoned, neglected words!
It’s compelling, well- developed, great work enlighten us about the unknown pages of history and magical power of true words.
I highly recommend it to historical fiction and based on real characters fiction fans. It’s quite informative, intense, realistic novel to read and absorb slowly.
Special thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group/ Ballantine for sending me this digital copy of incredible arc in exchange my honest review.
Rating: really liked it
4+ stars
Even though a little slow moving at first, this book was a pleasure to read. This fascinating novel brings to life the history of the first Oxford English Dictionary, and it’s not boring as that might sound! I’m glad I didn’t let the slowness of the first half stop me because it turned out to be a wonderful piece of historical fiction, the kind that pulls you into events of the past with unforgettable characters, both real and imagined. The narrator Esme is one of the fictional characters whose life reflects not only the compilation of the dictionary, but what is happening in the world at the time - the suffrage movement, WWI, the place of women in society . Through Esme and some other women who actually played a role in compiling the OED, the author celebrates those women, who had not been fully recognized. Discovering these women was the inspiration for this book . It appears to be well researched.
At six years old Esme becomes enthralled with the words she finds on the slips of paper, as she sits under the work table in the Scriptorium where her father works on the Oxford English Dictionary. Later working there herself, she finds words of common usage mostly by women, words that would never make it into the dictionary from places, other than under that table. The beauty of these words Esme discovers, even those considered vulgar, is that the usage of them is real and linked to their life experiences and for Esme that is enough to confirm their importance and merit and should be preserved . Some of these words are based on her own experiences as well, both the sad, heartbreaking moments and the joyful ones.
My first experience with the OED was in college in a course on Chaucer when we were assigned to review the origin some of the Old English words from Canterbury Tales . As a diligent student I did my assignment and I can honestly say I gave no thought whatsoever to how the dictionary came to be. So this was a learning experience about that process, but so much more. It’s about words and wisdom and capable women, about endearing relationships between father and daughter, with friends and with a good man. A well done debut novel that will have me looking to see what Pip Williams may write in the future.
I received a copy of this book from Ballantine through NetGalley.
Rating: really liked it
A fine example of historical fiction that held my attention throughout. Herculean effort to prepare the first edition of Oxford English Dictionary described together with some historic events of the period, the beginning of the twentieth century, and blended with good character development. The novel felt real to me, and turned out to be unputdownable, especially due to my personal linguistic interests.
*A big thank-you to Pip Williams, Random House UK, and NetGalley for arc in exchange for my honest review.*
Rating: really liked it
This is one of the best books I have ever published.
A cracking plot about how the word Bondmaid was stolen from the Oxford English Dictionary, but also a book of gorgeous characters. This had me crying like a baby at the end.
Rating: really liked it
Lovely. Wonderful. Sublime. Delightful. Enchanting. Charming.
This is one of those books whose premise just enthralled me. Esme’s father was one of the lexicographers working on the Oxford English Dictionary. She grew up understanding the power of words. As she gets older, she also starts working on the dictionary. First running errands, but eventually being given more responsibilities.
Fair warning, the first part of the book is a bit slow. It’s not until Esme takes it into her head to collect words for another dictionary, the Dictionary of Lost Words, that it truly comes alive. If history is written by the victors, then in the same vein, vocabulary is deemed meaningful only if it’s the words of the educated, male, ruling class. Her first word is knackered. “Lizzie had never once said she felt listless, but she was knackered all the time.” Esme definitely gets an education with some of the words. Let’s just say they’re not words used by polite society.
The book is perfect for those that love language. But it’s also a great story, filled with lovely characters. Not just Esme, but her Da, Harry, and Ditte, a dear family friend. Ditte’s letters to Harry are interspersed throughout the book and really helped round it out, giving us a different look at Esme. The book took turns I never saw coming. It encompasses two big chapters of history - the suffragette movement and WWI. It spans from 1887 - 1989. And it shows us love, in all its permutations.
LOVE A passionate affection
ETERNAL Everlasting, endless, beyond death.
My thanks to netgalley and Random House for an advance copy of this book.
Rating: really liked it
This is the perfect book for anyone who enjoys historical fiction and loves words. That's me by the way.
A wonderful story, based on fact, is told of how the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary was compiled. It seems crazy to us today, but a team of learned scholars sat in a garden shed gathering and annotating words and their meanings. As they worked on each letter of the alphabet the words were stored on slips of paper in wooden pigeon holes. Each word was taken out and the meaning of it disputed endlessly until there was agreement on its definition(s). No wonder it took fifty years to get to Z.
Through the main character, Esme, we follow the day to day work of the lexicographers, spend some interesting time with the Women's Suffrage Movement, and eventually experience the horrors of the first World War. Esme is a fictional character but I am sure she epitomises many women who lived through that time.
I enjoyed this book so much. The writing was beautiful, the characters charming (especially Gareth), and the story was intriguing and sometimes heart breaking. I reached for the tissues several times towards the end. Definitely a five star book for me and I am looking forward to what this author writes next.
Rating: really liked it
Esme although motherless and having academic Oxford of the late 19th century as her world delights living in and around the group of people building the very first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary. This is the story of her fictionalised life, but a story embedded in the real history and characters of the OED first edition. This is a wonderfully bookish tale that is ultimately about the patriarchal privileged Victorian endeavour and explores whether this environment meant that many words were omitted and not even considered because their source was either from the disenfranchised and/or women.
The book also covers the lot of the poor, women and suffragettes, as well as what it may have been like to grow up motherless in Victorian England; it's nowhere near as stuffy as it might sound to some and proved to be a really immersive experience. One of those books, that might not be the greatest but I whole heartedly feel every booknerd MUST read! 8 out of 12.
2022 read
Rating: really liked it
The first Oxford English Dictionary was created in 1901 only by men. Archives have proved that there were “female volunteers, assistants, spouses, none of whose contributions were acknowledged.” Where there any words “these scholarly men might have chosen to omit from their version of the English language?” This question becomes the premise for this story.
Oxford, 1887. Esme’s father is “one of Dr. Murray’s most trusted lexicographers,” and she doesn’t have a mother to care for her, thus a blind eye is being turned, when she is in the Scriptorium - under a table. As a word on a piece of paper slips off the end of the table, she catches it and saves it. When she questions what happens to the words that are left out, she is told, “If there isn’t enough information about them, they’re discarded.”
With time she becomes an assistant, now working ‘above’ the table. Esme’s ambition grows. She wants to collect the words on her own, and not just wait for them to come by mail to the Scriptorium. She fills her pockets with slips and pencils and ventures to the Covered Market on Saturdays. Mabel, who sells used wares, fills Esme with plenty of words, even with some which may raise one’s eyebrow or give a good chuckle.
The rule of dictionary is if a word is commonly spoken, but not commonly written, then it will not be included. Esme argues this rule.
Enjoyable atmosphere. I enjoyed very much the description of the Scriptorium. A shed at the back of the house filled with scholars, who have their routine, which gives a unique atmosphere. Also, the circle of friends. When Esme goes to Bath for some time to assist their friend in her research, who is an expert in history and respected for her knowledge. She creates a circle of scholars who come to her house and others on regular bases. The atmosphere of the afternoon tea gatherings is very special.
The story begins with Esme as a young curious and bubbly girl, then she becomes closed off due to some events. Being surrounded by loving people helps her heal and she becomes approachable again and thriving. You can feel this process of her transformation.
What makes this story very special, it is its uniqueness. Like no other story ever told before. The search for words and defining them. And lovable characters you warm up to very quickly. With a deep grasp of words a unique story is woven evoking time, place and character, saturated with beautiful prose.
Source: ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: really liked it
Inspired by a chance omission in the making of the
Oxford English Dictionary, this is a story of poignant love and heartbreaking loss. I savored every word!
Why this book has a place on my
Favorites bookshelf:
1. surrounded by real-life powerful people, fictional character Esme Nicoll is so likeable with her insatiable curiosity and naivety - I felt empathy for her throughout the story;
2. the setting during the making of the
Oxford English Dictionary is quite unique;
3. incredibly well-researched;
4. the hard copy includes a b/w photo of the Scriptorium staff and timelines of the making of the
OED as well as major historical events featured;
5. even the "Acknowledgements" are most readable, cleverly portrayed as dictionary entries;
6. I learned some new words myself (e.g. Madeira cake, fascicle); and,
7. in the words of several authors, this novel is - "timely and timeless; wonderfully constructed; a compelling, fresh look at historical women; inventive; enchanting; original; and finally, an unforgettable debut" (I couldn't have described this story better myself!)
I will most definitely read other books by this author!
I highly recommend this outstanding debut novel to all historical fiction fans - it's like no other that you have read!
Rating: really liked it
5+
I loved Esme from the tine she enjoyed climbing under the table at the Scriptorium. Feet and legs beneath a table can tell you so much about the person attached but unseen. At about the same age as Esme, I could be found crawling under the table at large family gatherings. Aunt Teresa's feet and legs could belong to no other relative, neatly crossed at the ankle above the very still feet in orthopedic shoes. But which relative kept crossing and uncrossing their legs, tapping out some unheard tune? Was the adult conversation disturbing or did they need to use the bathroom? This underworld entertainment would continue for me, and for Esme, until my absence was noticed and I was forced to join those in the above world. Of course, we both received an admonition for unladylike behavior.
I continued to love Esme as she grew, as her collection and love of words grew, as the Oxford Dictionary's entries swelled, as she questioned why some words were excluded. I loved her awakening awareness of gender exclusion, class exclusion and the resulting toll on those left out. I admired her determination to find everyday words known only by everyday people. Her love of words was so broad and accepting, never too racy, never too forbidden. I loved how the inclusion of these words gave those who were powerless, who felt lowly and forgotten, a sense of worth.
As readers, we also love words, written words and spoken words. There's no shortage of sayings describing the power of words. But this novel is about so much more than just words. It is about acceptance of all people and all that they are. It is about who has power and who has control, not just about what goes into a compilation of words, but in politics and in our lives. And ultimately, it is about love: love of language, love of one's career, love of family and friends. It is about living a life of meaning.
Rating: really liked it
I really wanted to like this but my pet peeve with historical novels is when the writer can't stop themselves putting modern sensibilities into the actions, words and motives of the characters. It tosses you right out of the world the writer is trying to recreate. In this novel, it felt as if the writer had more than one ideological barrow to push and in the end, I kept losing the sense of the story and felt like I was reading a woke sermon.
My other criticism is the inconsistencies in the main character. There were times when she would make a decision or speech and it made no sense to how the character had acted or how she had processed her life experiences up till that point. It was as if the writer had decided particular things had to be done or said regardless of whether they fit the character. Not a smooth read.
Note for those who like to be aware: there is quite foul language.
Rating: really liked it
[2.8] The premise of this book is fascinating - a young woman, Esme, grows up amongst a team of lexicographers who are collecting words for the first Oxford English dictionary. Unfortunately, Esme has no spark or personality, she plods through life collecting word slips and mourning her losses. I did like Lizzie the maid. Because it was for my book club, I trudged along with Esme to the end.
Rating: really liked it
So many times the blurbs on the front and back cover of novels are nothing but hyperbole, the novel failing to live up to exaggerated expectations, but Tom Keneally’s blurb,
“There will not be this year a more original novel published. I just know it.” This is not hyperbole.
Esme’s mother died, so her father must look after her through the day. Esme is hiding under the placing table, her normal place of residence while her father and fellow lexicographers write the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary, adding words, definitions. It is a tiring laborious process. It is from this “hiding place” under the table that Esme “steals” her first word. The slip of paper containing the word “Bondmaid” flutters down and lands in front of Esme who snatches it, not knowing the consequences that her actions will have in the future.
As time progresses and Esme grows older, she starts to build her own dictionary. A dictionary made up of words that will not be included in the official dictionary. She sources these words from many delightful characters and most of the words have a tendency to be female slang words, or words currently in the dictionary that take on a very different meaning for these ladies.
Firstly, there is her own “bondmaid”, Lizzie, who is more of a dear friend then a servant, remaining faithfully by Esme’s side throughout the whole novel. Then there is Mabel O’Shaughnessy, a truly brilliant character who lives in poverty and sells bits and bobs, trinkets, anything she thinks she can really, at the market. Mabel enlightens Esme to the crude, the crass, the slang words that would never be entered into the official dictionary. Tilda is an actress who Esme also finds at the markets. She is a suffragette, not afraid to get her hands bloody, or break a few laws in the interminable fight for the vote.
It is Tilda who opens Esme’s eyes to the plight of women and how they are treated as second class citizens without a voice. Williams’ uses Tilda to explore the theme of the suffragettes and the bravery of the women who strove to be heard and succeeded.
The book spans from 1887 to the epilogue in 1989. Therefore, Williams also covers the period of The Great War and the effect it had on every facet of life. All the able-bodied men were raring to go, some thinking it would all be over in weeks. None of them prepared for the terrible nightmare they were doomed to become trapped in. The war itself proves to be a repository. Esme visits an infirmary where wounded soldiers provide yet more words for the fledgling dictionary.
“If war could change the nature of men, it would surely change the nature of words.”There is a lovely touch towards the end of the novel in which Esme is given the charge of looking after a young soldier who is suffering from severe shellshock, or PTSD. He remembers nothing, and simple words are beyond his comprehension. Esme uses the Esperanto language, a constructed, auxiliary language built with the intention to sow peace between nations, to help him. A beautiful message. It is a tribute to the power of words when the patient's doctor tells Esme,
“This is the first time he has been calmed by words instead of chloroform.” Pip Williams has attempted and succeeded in giving a voice, although Esme is a work of fiction, to the women who worked just as tirelessly as the men on this dictionary. She has built a narrative that revolves around the stolen word “Bondmaid”. It starts the novel off, it is integral to the narrative, and then it is there in the epilogue.
A brilliant novel. Especially for lovers of words. 5 stars!
