The Dictionary of Lost Words

Exquisite, brilliant, curious, heart wrenching, enthralling, perfectly written.

This story isn't just about the compilation of the English dictionary - it is about the compilation of the dictionary from a woman's perspective in a time when many women were not even afforded the abilities to read or write. It is about the words of women, of the poor and of the uneducated, in a time when it was only the words of educated men which were deemed valuable enough to define and publish.

The first half/third is slow, and it didn't become a story that I struggled to put down until the last third, but it is so worth pushing through.

Others have complained that the second half follows Esme's personal struggles, the women's suffrage movement, and the First World War, more so than the compilation of the Dictionary itself. However, I found that these events captivated me and tied the story together all the more perfectly - not to mention making it more historically accurate, considering how these events would have impacted the lives of those writing the dictionary at the time. It made my heart ache to think of what women from decades and centuries ago had to endure to give women today what we so easily take for granted.

I was surprised in reading the epilogue to find how much of the story was based on true details, from the characters, to the timeline, to the events that surrounded the inclusion of singular words. I appreciated how much care was evidently put into accurately portraying this story's history - but I also appreciated it being told from a fictional perspective. I fell in love with Esme and all of the others.

A beautiful read, I cannot recommend it enough.