This month I choose The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams
Motherless Esme accompanies her widower father every day to the Scriptorium, an oversized, glorified garden shed where words are filed into pigeon holes. He is involved in putting together the first copy of the Oxford English Dictionary. As she grows older she also gradually begins working on the dictionary.
She also starts collecting other words that don’t make it into the dictionary.
This novel addresses several issues: feminism, the suffrage movement and in particular the suffragettes, the loss of life in the Great War, class differences, unmarried mothers and how a dictionary is made.
Pip Williams paints a vivid picture of historical Oxford and creates believable and well-rounded characters in The Dictionary of Lost Words. She captures Esme’s voice particularly well, including when she is a child.
Note, this is an affiliate link and a small portion of what you pay, at no extra cost to you, may go to Bridge House Publishing.
