The Dictionary of Lost Words

Fine story following young Esme in parallel to the development of the first Oxford Dictionary. Gender roles were highlighted subtly at first and then more boldly as Esme's childhood gave way to womanhood and her own ambition. After the most metaphorical and vague fade-to-black I've ever read, Esme falls into a trope I didn't expect or appreciate. Later, the story peaks and suffragettes make the scene, but suddenly I hit diminishing returns. Gareth and Esme aren't given enough pages to sit with their emotions, so every chapter approaching the end seems anti-climactic, like sleep-walking through a misty, half-forgotten dream. Still, very much appreciate the attention paid to showing classcism, sexism, and misogyny.

This book is more of a reflection than anything, lending itself to a more formal and slightly more detached feel than I am used to. Still, the content matter was ever so important to reflect on, especially when as readers we are well aware of the power of language and who tells the stories we know. Though slow moving, I found this book interestingly pertinent.

I hadn't heard of this before I picked it up in a (real life!) bookshop, but apparently it garnered plenty of attention when it was published last year. And with good reason, I think.

It's the story of a woman, Esme, framed by the compilation of the Oxford English Dictionary, the way the meaning of words are shaped by use (as her own life's meaning is shaped by use), the words/lives considered worthy or unworthy of recording for posterity and who gets to decide that worth.

I enjoyed this one: slow and character-driven, no high drama, some tearful moments. I would have appreciated a content warning, but it's seriously spoilery and it would have ruined the moment, but I leave it here for you: childbirth, child loss, adoption .

The final chapter and the epilogue continue past Esme's work on the Dictionary, and I feel the book would have been stronger without it. Ditte's final letter would have been the perfect end-point, in my mind although clearly Megan's lecture shows Esme's work given the public attention she hoped it would someday achieve . 

Favorite quotes:
“I often wondered what kind of slip I would be written on if I was a word. Something too long, certainly. Probably the wrong colour. A scrap of paper that didn't quite fit. I worried that perhaps I would never find my place in the pigeon-holes at all”. P. 123

“I had to think. ‘It's about seeing something before it's fully formed. Watching it evolve. I imagine sitting here on opening night and appreciating every scene all the more because I understand what has led to it. Bill laughed. ‘What's so funny?' ‘Nothing. It's just that you don't speak often, but when you do it's perfect” p. 149

“Maybe it's about time I became “more worldly”, as you put it. Things are changing. Women don't have to live lives determined by others. They have choices, and I choose not to live the rest of my days doing as I'm told and worrying about what people will think. That's no life at all” p. 169

“He'd given me something I'd wanted since the first time he took my hand. It wasn't love; nothing like it. It was knowledge. Bill took words I'd written on slips and turned them into places on my body. He introduced me to sensations that no fine sentence could come close to defining. Near its end, I'd heard the pleasure of it exhaled on my breath, felt my back arch and my neck stretch to expose its pulse. It was a surrender, but not to him. Like an alchemist, Bill had turned Mabel's vulgarities and Tilda's practicalities into something beautiful. I was grateful, but I was not in love.” p. 175

‘Fear hates the ordinary, she said. ‘When yer feared, you need to think ordinary thoughts, do ordinary things. You ‘ear me? The fear'll back off, for a time at least” p. 185

“There was none. There are none. There never would be a word to mach Her” p. 210

“There was the fainest smell of coal smoke and the sounds of birds calling their own to roost, their songs as clear and distinct as church bells. My face was wet with loss and love and regret. And woven through it all there was a thread of shameful relief” p. 226

“He came round to my side of the table and sat beside me. “Love, Easy. A good family is one where there is love” p. 234

“(...) You can't change what is. - “do you really believe that, Lizzie?” She looked at me, wary of the question. “Surely things could change if enough people wanted them to” I continued”. p. 246

“It struck me that we are never fully at ease when we are aware of another's gaze. Perhaps we are never ourselves. In the desire to please or impress, to persuade or dominate, our movements become conscious, our features set”. p. 317

“If war could change the nature of men, it would surely change the nature of worlds, I thought. But so much of the English language had already been set in type and printed. We were nearing the end” p. 342

Bookclub read [UoG]: I was interested in the premise of this, having always loved words - their beginnings, uses and the way their meanings can change. I've never really thought about the gendering of words, how they can mean different things to men and women and how each has their own vocabulary (how this works in our more gender-fluid time I would be very interested to read upon). This book made me think about the words of my childhood, from my hometown and those of my parents. The special words that only mean something to you and those close to you. The new words you find as you grow and travel. The meanings you make for yourself.
Based on the true story of the dictionary's creation with the beginnings of the suffragist and suffragette movements and the First World War it's hard to believe that Esme is fiction. She seemed so real, well rounded by Williams' words and imbued with life. I wanted so much for her and felt her losses deeply. In some ways it is sad that real women of the dictionary remain as peripheral characters in this book as they do on the actual history of creating the dictionary. However, I appreciate Williams not wishing to take liberties with their narratives. The fictional women, were well fleshed out from the crass Mabel to the (almost) modern day Meg.
There was little joy to be taken from the lives of the characters, everything was permeated with a bleakness - perhaps due to the time it was set. However there was joy in the words, in the claiming of them and I will look differently at many of them since reading this.

What a beautiful book! I found the first part a little slow to get through and considered giving up. At times I was quite frustrated at Esme stealing words. But I loved seeing her character development. I absolutely adored the characters and fell in love with them. The last 20% of the book was so sad and had me crying. I did appreciate how quickly the book moved past the death of the characters and didn't linger on the details, it would have been too much to bare.

Such a lovely book! I adore stories that follow an individual character's life and journey. This one was so well done. The first part of the story was definitely my favorite. Esme was a fascinating child. Once she was older my interest in her started to wane, but I really loved reading about her friendship with Lizzie and then the story progressing into wartime. I've never given any thought to the creation of the dictionary before. The research seemed very thorough including a timeline at the end of the book. Everything came full-circle.

I was absolutely fascinated by the premise of this book, the era it takes place in and the history and people who brought The Oxford English Dictionary into being. I love words and authors who use them so exquisitely in their stories, the more lyrical the better. So a book which takes a closer look into language as it was being collected for the dictionary and how it is defined and used and whether that shifts depending on being a woman or a man, rich or poor, high class or low class was right up my alley. The book excels in bringing this piece of history to life and questioning the gaps that it left in its wake. I felt like Williams was able to capture the atmosphere of the Scriptorium and printing presses so well that I was sure I could smell the ink and paper. As for the story, it starts out strong and I was delighted by Esme as a child growing up and learning and being intrigued and curious about words and it clips along, even without much action, at the start. But as the story progresses, you'll need more patience to get through it. It slows to a crawl, looses a bit of the charm young Esme had as a child (though I get that's somewhat the point), but the biggest hurdle of all is that it loses its emotional connection. For a book about how words can capture people and convey so much or so little, I felt it could be quite dry sometimes and seriously lacking in lyrical writing. I didn't feel a lot at some pretty major points in the story, including some devastating parts that should have had me bawling- it doesn't take much to make me cry and I just....didn't. Esme feels very distant and I lost my connection to her as the story progressed and it felt more like I was being told events, rather than living, breathing and feeling them. Some things happened so quickly that if you missed a page you'd completely miss a major piece. So while I highly, highly enjoyed what this book is about, what it tries to represent for those who didn't have a voice in the building of the dictionary and for bringing to light a rarely touched on subject, it didn't quite reach the heights of a ‘best' or ‘favourite' book, but I do still think it is worthy story and I'm glad I read it. The bookish girl in me was still able to find a treasure trove of delight in many aspects of it and a new appreciation for both the dictionary and for words.