The Dictionary of Lost Words

by Pip Williams

“And then I was born and then she died.” “Yes.” “But when we talk about her, she comes to life.” “Never forget that, Esme. Words are our tools of resurrection.”

“It’s not about forgiveness, Essymay. We can’t always make the choices we’d like, but we can try to make the best of what we must settle for. Take care not to dwell.”

Bondmaid. It came back to me then, and I realised that the words most often used to define us were words that described our function in relation to others. Even the most benign words—maiden, wife, mother—told the world whether we were virgins or not. What was the male equivalent of maiden? I could not think of it. What was the male equivalent of Mrs., of whore, of common scold? I looked out the window towards the Scriptorium, the place where the definitions of all these words were being bedded down.