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The Dictionary of Lost Words by [Pip Williams]

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Pip Williams

The Dictionary of Lost Words Kindle Edition

by Pip Williams (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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In 1901, the word bondmaid was discovered missing from the Oxford English Dictionary. This is the story of the girl who stole it.

Motherless and irrepressibly curious, Esme spends her childhood in the Scriptorium, a garden shed in Oxford where her father and a team of lexicographers are gathering words for the very first Oxford English Dictionary.

Esme's place is beneath the sorting table, unseen and unheard. One day, she sees a slip containing the word bondmaid flutter to the floor unclaimed. Esme seizes the word and hides it in an old wooden trunk that belongs to her friend, Lizzie, a young servant in the big house. Esme begins to collect other words from the Scriptorium that are misplaced, discarded or have been neglected by the dictionary men. They help her make sense of the world.

Over time, Esme realises that some words are considered more important than others, and that words and meanings relating to women's experiences often go unrecorded. She begins to collect words for another dictionary: The Dictionary of Lost Words.

Print length

434 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Affirm Press
Publication date

31 March 2020
File size

4288 KB
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Review

"This remarkable novel tries to rectify a glaring oversight in the historical accounts of the first Oxford English Dictionary--the contributions of women . . . without whom the English language wouldn't have evolved as fully and colorfully as it has."--Boston

"Enchanting, sorrowful, and wonderfully written, the book is a one-of-a-kind celebration of language and its importance in our lives. A must-have."--Library Journal (starred review)

"In Williams's exuberant, meticulously researched debut, the daughter of a lexicographer devotes her life to an alternative dictionary. . . . Williams's feminist take on language will move readers."--Publishers Weekly

"Williams turns history as we know it on its head in this delightful debut, spotlighting those women and their contributions, using the awe-inspiring power of words themselves to illuminate them."--Newsweek

"[A] masterfully written, beautiful first novel that tells a fascinating story of language, love and loss."--Historical Novel Society

"The writing is glorious; I dog-eared many pages as I read, marking passages that helped me see words in a new way."--Manhattan Book Review (starred review)

"The novel you've been waiting for without even realizing it . . . Williams will convince you of a word's importance in a most lovely and charismatic story."--Bookreporter

"A lexicographer's dream of a novel, this is a lovely book to get lost in, an imaginative love letter to dictionaries."--Booklist

"Williams provides readers with detailed background and biographical information pointing to extensive research about the [Oxford English Dictionary] and its editors, many of whom appear as characters in Esme's life. The result is a satisfying amalgam of truth and historical fiction."--Kirkus Reviews

"In the annals of lexicography, no more imaginative, delightful, charming, and clever book has yet been written."--Simon Winchester, author ofThe Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary

"What a novel of words, their adventure, and their capacity to define and, above all, challenge the world. There will not be this year a more original novel published. I just know it."--Thomas Keneally, author of Schindler's List

"What a compelling, fresh look at historical women! This marvelous exploration into the ways in which spoken and written language impact us is a delight and an education."--Marie Benedict, author of The Mystery of Mrs. Christie

"This charming, inventive, and utterly irresistible novel is the story we all need right now. Words have never mattered more, as Pip Williams illuminates in her unforgettable debut."--Susan Wiggs, author of The Lost and Found Bookshop

--This text refers to the hardcover edition.

About the Author

Pip Williams was born in London, grew up in Sydney, and now lives in the Adelaide Hills of South Australia with her family and an assortment of animals. She has spent most of her working life as a social researcher, studying what keeps us well and what helps us thrive, and she is the author of One Italian Summer, a memoir of her family's travels in search of the good life, which was published in Australia to wide acclaim. Based on her original research in the Oxford English Dictionary archives, The Dictionary of Lost Words is her first novel. --This text refers to the hardcover edition.

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B086KR4GKT
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Affirm Press (31 March 2020)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 4288 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 434 pages

Best Sellers Rank: 409 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- 17 in Historical Fiction (Kindle Store)
- 30 in Historical Fiction (Books)
- 203 in Whispersync for Voice

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Top reviews from Australia

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Philomena the Wombat

Love, lexicography, loss: A voice not demanding we see the truth of our language, but whispering it

Reviewed in Australia on 30 April 2020

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Warning: Some spoiler alerts below:

I didn't think it would be possible to enjoy (and learn from) a better book on lexicography than Winchester's 'The Surgeon of Crowthorne': I was wrong.

The Dictionary of Lost Words is a stately walk through Victorian England's values, from a woman's point of view, but always with the gentle overlay of the Oxford English Dictionary's lexicography. The facts of the task of compiling the OED were fascinating, but more-so the philosophical questions central to this book - What defines 'validity' in a word? Must it have been written down? Does a tabloid newspaper coining a new word, constitute its having been 'written down'? Is slang acceptable? Is slang only acceptable after it's been in use for a time? Should profanities be included, and if not, why not? The protagonist, Esme has to address these questions, then in a profoundly chauvinistic society, she has to present and argue her case. Her 'lost words' are the oral vocabularies of women. Not a topic many men in Victorian England were interested in.

Pip Williams' portrayal of English as a changing language, and her recognition of its inbuilt sexism is fascinating. As Esme observes; Nearly every (polite) term for a woman (such as Miss, Mrs, maiden, harlot) informs the hearer of the virginity-status of the woman concerned... and none of the male terms do equally. Even the derogatory ones such as 'git' do not allude to a man's virginity status.
Then there are the words for women, which have no male equivalent - 'scold'. Blame encompassed in just one word.

As in real life, nothing happens quickly and with Esme's accidental death, some actions are left to those who come after. This may disappoint those who like all the loose ends of a story tied up before the final page. But these characters, for the most part, are based on real individuals.

Finally this is a love story - typical of the age. Love finally declared... too late, bound by the constraints of the society (which impose on Esme a belief she is not worthy of happiness in marriage), and ended too soon by the horrohs of WWI.

A wonderful book. The best I have read for years.
_______

I don't know who I wish I could have dinner with more.... Pip Williams, or Esme.

13 people found this helpful

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Susan Burrell

Words shape and mis-shape our perception of our world

Reviewed in Australia on 22 June 2020

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This is a well- crafted book, exploring the well- founded suspicion that, as in most things, it is the opinions and decisions of men in compiling the first Oxford English Dictionary, which thereby stifle and dismiss the lived experience of women - to our great loss. I particularly liked Esme’s insistence that the words of illiterate and uneducated women were as worthy of recording as those words that had made their way into print.

5 people found this helpful

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Dennis Rutzou

This is a very absorbing reading experience.

Reviewed in Australia on 15 September 2020

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I read this one a few months ago by mistake as I rarely read fiction so this was a real surprise for my wife. It's a great effort by a first time novel writer as she manages to intertwine two very interesting historical themes in the one narrative, namely the researching and writing of the Oxford Dictionary and the suffragette movement. No mean feat. I have recommended it to many of my friends and no one has come after my blood so far, so they must have liked it as well.

4 people found this helpful

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Melbourne Gal

Dedication to making a dictionary makes a good story!

Reviewed in Australia on 1 July 2021

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This was a fascinating story for a wordsmith like me. I find the origins of words and their connections with other languages fascinating, but this story told of their uses in history, related to class and gender in particular. The story conveys attitudes of its era, from the late 1800s to post WW1; women's rights playing quite a large part. I was actually surprised to read that some currently largely unacceptable words were in use by the 'lower classes' back then. Although there is a large focus on the making of a dictionary, the story of Esme is both uplifting and distressing, making for an excellent novel by Pip Williams.

3 people found this helpful

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Donné

What a pleasure, to read a book about dictionaries, from a women's perspective.

Reviewed in Australia on 1 July 2020

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So to all who recommended this thank you! This book was extraordinarily different. What a pleasure, to read a book about dictionaries, from a women's perspective, in difficult times for women. Loved that the novel was interwoven around real events. I never knew about Bondmaid being missed, and now I will always remember. Excellent read.♥️

4 people found this helpful

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*#*

A wonderful escape from the dreariness of script-for-movie-deal books.

Reviewed in Australia on 18 August 2020

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What a topic! Superb escape into another world with characters, settings and theme that are totally unexpected. So welcome after so much predictability in current writings. So much of our new choice is written in the hope of landing a movie deal; it is delightful and wonderful to rediscover the joy in reading a real book.

4 people found this helpful

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Rosemary Nissen-Wade

A beautiful and important book

Reviewed in Australia on 14 April 2022

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How gently and poignantly this author writes her fictional story, based on well-researched historical truths, of the creation of The Oxford English Dictionary and the kinds of words it initially omitted — words used by women, by the poor, by soldiers…. Slang words widely used, words in currency but not written down — set against the background of women’s suffrage and World War I. I grew to love the very real, unromanticised characters, and the author’s beautiful restraint which is powerful in telling this tale.

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Helereb

A beautiful and addictive story.

Reviewed in Australia on 26 January 2021

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I absolutely loved this book about the origins of the Oxford dictionary. I was fascinated by the process of this creation which was so detailed and painstaking but it also opened another world - that of women behind the scenes. The main story of the book was of course about the making of the dictionary but the other story behind that was just as fascinating and and heart wrenching hung. A wonderful insight into an old and charming world.

One person found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

W. A. R

A beautiful evocative read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 27 April 2021

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This is such a beautiful story. The history of words in the English Oxford dictionary was fascinating and I loved learning about the process involved in the Scriptorium.
The characters are wonderful- so warmly described; from Esme, who feels the responsibility for all of the discarded and unwanted words, to Lizzie who is there for Esme at every turn, to Mabel who provided some of the more ‘fruity ‘ words for Esme’s collection. All women who prove that their voices count as much as the next man.
A truly evocative read that will stay with me for a long time.

32 people found this helpful

A Wilkin

Moving, empowering and reflective.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 25 May 2021

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This story made me laugh and cry and feel everything in between. I got absorbed into the life and days of Esme and followed her journey with eagerness. Pip Williams has given life to the women of the Oxford English Dictionary and to those whose words did not make the cut. All while taking into account the lives, hopes and fears of women during the start of the 20th century, the suffragettes and WW1. I highly recommend this book, and while this may not mean much from a stranger on the Internet I encourage you to give this book a shot. It is moving, empowering and reflective.

31 people found this helpful

E. Ward Thomas

The creation of the Oxford dictionary as a love story

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 3 May 2021

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Prompted by the film "the Professor and the Madman" with Mel Gibson as the Editor of the Oxford Dictionary, I spotted this in a newspaper review. Written from the perspective of a daughter of the team, this is beautifully crafted and emotionally in love with both words and their origin. It is very evocative of the treatment of girls and the value of wealth and family by society at the time. A leader for the best of 2021 so far.

20 people found this helpful

C.Campbell

Language and power and the Oxford English Dictionary

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 1 May 2021

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This is such an easy book to read. A great story about love and family and grief and caring for one another. Set around the Scriptorium, first home of the OED, and the life of great lexicographer James Murray and his team of assistants. A real tear-jerker, it draws the reader in, perfect holiday book. Underpinned by a series of sobering reflections on how language is enabled and limited by gender, power and social class, against the backdrop of the suffragette movement. Highly recommended.

12 people found this helpful

MM Buyer

Unique and original. A good pleasant read.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 30 September 2021

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Welcome to the world of the Scriptorium where the words of meaning, definition, pronunciation, and consequence that are deemed sufficiently important make their way into the Oxford English dictionary. For here we learn the art of 'lexicography' created in the late 17th century, from the Greek lexikos meaning 'of words' and ‘grapho’ meaning 'to inscribe, to write' and the agonising process involved at the Scriptorium of filtering the words of meaning.

The history of our words and the fictional story of Esme who must remain silent and invisible, in the place her father works as a lexicographer, are beautifully combined to tell a story of the discarded words and the dictionary of lost words.

Esme has an irrepressible hunger for knowledge about the origins of words and had fully assimilated with the work of the scriptorium, but somehow her mentors just missed it. One word fascinates Esme – “Bondmaid”, which she learns means "slave girl," but as she collects the discarded words Esme realises that a lot of the words and meanings relating to women's and common folks' experiences are often the ones that go unrecorded and discarded. To give the unspoken words a voice and meaning, Esme produces the “Dictionary of lost words” from the rejected scraps of paper found on the floor.

This is a unique and original story that was such an interesting read particularly when interwoven with true historical references and the history and process of lexicography. I liked it but did not love it. It just seemed to drag a bit too much in the middle of the book and the themes, whilst good separately, didn't gel together as much as they could have. It needed more menace or intrigue. However, the writing was beautiful but a 3.5 rating.

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