The Dictionary of Lost Words Audiobook By Pip Williams cover art

The Dictionary of Lost Words

A Novel

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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • REESE’S BOOK CLUB PICK • “Delightful . . . [a] captivating and slyly subversive fictional paean to the real women whose work on the Oxford English Dictionary went largely unheralded.”—The New York Times Book Review

“A marvelous fiction about the power of language to elevate or repress.”—Geraldine Brooks, New York Times bestselling author of People of the Book

Esme is born into a world of words. Motherless and irrepressibly curious, she spends her childhood in the Scriptorium, an Oxford garden shed in which 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 beneath the table. She rescues the slip and, learning that the word means “slave girl,” begins to collect other words that have been discarded or neglected by the dictionary men.

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 and with the Great War looming, The Dictionary of Lost Words reveals a lost narrative, hidden between the lines of a history written by men. Inspired by actual events, author Pip Williams has delved into the archives of the Oxford English Dictionary to tell this highly original story. The Dictionary of Lost Words is a delightful, lyrical, and deeply thought-provoking celebration of words and the power of language to shape the world.

WINNER OF THE AUSTRALIAN BOOK INDUSTRY AWARD Women's Fiction Genre Fiction Coming of Age Heartfelt Biographical Fiction Funny Suspenseful
Fascinating Historical Backdrop • Well-developed Characters • Exceptional Accent Versatility • Thought-provoking Themes

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As an English Literature teacher and Writing Coach, I found the history of the English Oxford Dictionary fascinating; I simply never considered how long it took and who determined what words comprised the first dictionary! Esme, from whom we 'view' the story, grows up in the 'Scripy' (the Scriptoriaum where an editor and his many scholars determine definitions for words they accept for the OED), hiding under her father's desk and picking up scraps of discarded words. The story chronicles the years of the dictionary's development surrounded by her maturation into a woman. WWI takes many of the men away from the Scripy, and the women's Sufferage Movements runs full-tilt. William's characterizations make Esme, Dah, Lizzie, Tilda, and Garreth come alive--and the voice portrayals match the characterizations perfectly. When the novel ends, I missed them all--a sure sign of a well-written novel. However, some may find the pacing a bit slow for their liking since time is spent defining words, arguing over words, and many other aspects of the dictionary's life.

For Lovers of Words!

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If you enjoy historical fiction, read The Dictionary of Lost Words.
If you enjoy words and are interested in their history, read The Dictionary of Lost Words.
If you enjoy reading stories with good character development, read The Dictionary of Lost Words.
If you enjoy reading stories about family, read The Dictionary of Lost Words.
And if you enjoy reading stories about love, I highly recommend reading The Dictionary of Lost Words.
Pip William wrote a masterpiece. Her thorough research about the times surrounding the period in which the words were compiled and published in the first edition of the Oxford-English Dictionary allowed Williams to create a vivid and accurate historical backdrop for the reader to follow Esme grow up in an ever-changing world. I enjoyed every moment of this book and was delighted with how Williams focused on certain provocative words to make a point about how words can be ‘lost’ depending on who oversees the editing. Narrator Pippa Bennett-Warner does an excellent job of bringing the characters to life.

Loved it!

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A wonderful historical fiction with a profound ending. I was left thinking back to a professional caution I developed to try to speak plainly. It came from the realization that even across the US in my own time a single word can have different meanings. Careful how you speak.

Words Reflect on Us

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the reader was very good, providing accents (that to my American ear) sounded quite realistic and differentiated the characters nicely.
The story is fascinating.
I learned a lot about the OED and the time period.
well done!

fascinating account of the compilation of the OED

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I absolutely loved listening to this book. Weaving together factual history with historical fiction was expertly achieved. At no time did I become bored with the story. The reader leaves this book with a better and deeper understanding of words we use everyday and how they became defined. This book would be an excellent book club read and wonderful discussions following!

Incredible story

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