“But when we talk about her, she comes to life.” “Never forget that, Esme. Words are our tools of resurrection.”–Pip Williams, The Dictionary of Lost Words
Esme grows up in a world of words. Motherless, she spends her days in the Scriptorium, an Oxford garden shed, where her father and other lexicographers collect words for the first Oxford English Dictionary. As Esme grows and learns to read and understand words, she realizes that the men deciding the words for the dictionary are not including many words that relate to women’s experiences or the experiences of the poor and uneducated. She decides these words need to be recorded also. This begins her journey from the sheltered walls of the Scriptorium to the larger, more diverse world of people from all walks and the words they use. Set during the pivotal time of the women’s suffrage movement and the lead up to World War I, this book is a beautiful tribute to words and the power of language to change the world.
I had never thought about the process of creating a dictionary before reading this book. With so many words in the English language, how do you decide which words to include? This book gives a fascinating look into the process and illustrates the importance of recording a broad range of words that reflect the diversity of a population. Kudos to Pip Williams for sharing her masterful story with us.
Content Advisory: Some language and vulgar terms, references to sex