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What Members Thought
A historical with heart. Beautiful read.
DNF at 50% in.
Extremely slow, plodding pace. Writing was tell don't show, and pretty boring, so couldn't support the slow pace.
Characterisation of Esme was non existent - her narrative voice never seemed to grow beyond 6. She made no sense as a character, extremely passive, seemed to say things that didn't even fit with the small amount of personality she had.
Major things happen that aren't even remotely explained or touched on, it was like watching a movie in a foreign language without subtitle ...more
Extremely slow, plodding pace. Writing was tell don't show, and pretty boring, so couldn't support the slow pace.
Characterisation of Esme was non existent - her narrative voice never seemed to grow beyond 6. She made no sense as a character, extremely passive, seemed to say things that didn't even fit with the small amount of personality she had.
Major things happen that aren't even remotely explained or touched on, it was like watching a movie in a foreign language without subtitle ...more
Loved this book! A layered read about women and language and how the choices of the words we use and document define us and our world. Also about the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary over many years and one women’s experience of that. Fascinating read.
I loved this book. A lovely story woven around the actual history of the development of The Oxford English Dictionary.
What a delightful book! Well researched, and beautifully narrated. The Oxford English Dictionary took many years to complete and under the leadership of James Murray as the lead editor and many lexicographers and scholars. This is a fictionalised version about the compilation of the dictionary and about a young girl, Esme, whose father was a lexicographer working on the dictionary, who hides under the sorting table collecting all the discarded slips of words. She hoarded them in a trunk, along w
...more
Nov 04, 2020
Kim
marked it as to-read
Dec 22, 2020
Katrina
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Feb 01, 2021
Andrea
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Feb 23, 2021
Gaynor
marked it as to-read
May 22, 2022
Zimbellina
marked it as hold
Mar 31, 2023
Kora
marked it as to-read
Mar 11, 2025
Rach
marked it as to-read
