Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

Summary of The Dictionary of Lost Words: A Novel By Pip Williams

Rate this book
This is not a Book by Pip Williams Nor is it affliated with them. It's an independent Publication by name Maria R Holmes That summaries their Book in Details. “A marvelous fiction about the power of language to elevate or repress.”—Geraldine Brooks, New York Times bestselling author of People of the BookEsme 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 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.

23 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 31, 2022

6 people are currently reading
17 people want to read

About the author

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
2 (25%)
4 stars
1 (12%)
3 stars
1 (12%)
2 stars
1 (12%)
1 star
3 (37%)
Displaying 1 of 1 review
Profile Image for Jan Toy.
49 reviews
September 21, 2023
Great book. I wonder how many lost words there are that didn’t make it to the dictionary?
Displaying 1 of 1 review

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.