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thecaptainsquarters 's review for:
The Dictionary of Lost Words
by Pip Williams
Ahoy there me mateys! As a reader, I am endlessly exhilarated when I learn new words and I also love seeing how language changes over time. Back in the day, I read the professor and the madman which dealt with the making of the OED. I adored it. However it never occurred to me to ask if there were women that played a significant part in the OED. Then Matey Kate posted a introduction to this book that listed this blurb:
"Summary: In 1901, the word ‘Bondmaid’ was discovered missing from the Oxford English Dictionary. This is the story of the girl who stole it."
She also posted a link to Matey Lisa's lovely review and I was hooked. This is a historical fiction detailing the role of some of the women working on the OED. The story is told through the eyes and life of Esme, a fictional character, whose father is one of the men tasked at defining the English words.
I absolutely loved this book. For me it was the play on language and the insight into what the daily life of putting the OED could look like given that it took over 70 years to complete. I had never thought about the rejected words and definitions or how male attitudes could have infringed on how it was put together. I never thought about the prolonged length of production time had an effect on how words were chosen over time. It was also interesting to get a different perspective on how events like WWI and women's suffrage impacted the OED.
As for Esme's story, I enjoyed the first half of the book best. That was the section dealing with how the OED was put together and dealt with the men working there. The second second was focused more on Esme's relationships and the voting rights issues and war. It was well written, I just personally wasn't enthralled with the direction Esme's life took and how the focus shifted off of the OED.
That said, this book was a super quick and fun read and I recommend it to word lovers and historical fiction lovers alike. Arrr!
So lastly . . .
Thank ye kindly Ballantine Books!
Side note: Did ye know that J. R. R. Tolkien was employed by the OED in 1919 and 1920? He researched etymologies in the Waggle to Warlock sections. Arrr!
"Summary: In 1901, the word ‘Bondmaid’ was discovered missing from the Oxford English Dictionary. This is the story of the girl who stole it."
She also posted a link to Matey Lisa's lovely review and I was hooked. This is a historical fiction detailing the role of some of the women working on the OED. The story is told through the eyes and life of Esme, a fictional character, whose father is one of the men tasked at defining the English words.
I absolutely loved this book. For me it was the play on language and the insight into what the daily life of putting the OED could look like given that it took over 70 years to complete. I had never thought about the rejected words and definitions or how male attitudes could have infringed on how it was put together. I never thought about the prolonged length of production time had an effect on how words were chosen over time. It was also interesting to get a different perspective on how events like WWI and women's suffrage impacted the OED.
As for Esme's story, I enjoyed the first half of the book best. That was the section dealing with how the OED was put together and dealt with the men working there. The second second was focused more on Esme's relationships and the voting rights issues and war. It was well written, I just personally wasn't enthralled with the direction Esme's life took and how the focus shifted off of the OED.
That said, this book was a super quick and fun read and I recommend it to word lovers and historical fiction lovers alike. Arrr!
So lastly . . .
Thank ye kindly Ballantine Books!
Side note: Did ye know that J. R. R. Tolkien was employed by the OED in 1919 and 1920? He researched etymologies in the Waggle to Warlock sections. Arrr!