The Dictionary of Lost Words

Author: Pip Williams
Genre: Fiction, Historical Fiction

*clutches heart* Ah! I loved this book!

Esme, our main character is a kindred spirit. Growing up, it’s just her and her dad in Oxford, England. Every day, he takes Esme to the “Scriptorium,” where her father is working with a team of lexicographers, collecting ALL the words for the first ever Oxford English Dictionary. One day, a slip of paper containing her first word finds its way under the table to her. She keeps this word safe in a case beneath the bed of her friend, Lizzie, a servant working in the big house. Throughout the years, Esme collects more words, eventually going out into the world and searching for words from people all over. She begins learning that words are weighted… for example, words that make it into the dictionary have been deemed “worthy enough” to earn a place there. There are many words, used by those with less power and status in the world who have many words that didn’t even make it to the Scriptorium table. So, Esme collects all these words, storing them in the same case beneath Lizzie’s bed as she becomes an adult and eventually, joins the table as a fellow lexicographer.

Esme’s journey from child to womanhood is beautiful, sad, inspiring, and joyful. If I were a character in a book, I would probably be a lot like Esme, obsessed with words and with language and with making meaning of things. Her headstrong, independent, and curious personality makes me wish I could join her on this journey. It’s an absolutely encapsulating literary experience and I highly recommend it!