The Dictionary of Lost Words Summary
Pip Williams

The Dictionary of Lost Words Overview

The Dictionary of Lost Words is a historical fiction novel about how words are defined and who they are defined by. While telling a fictionalized account of the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary, Pip Williams tells of a woman, Esme, who collects women's words that are not deemed significant enough or proper enough to be included in the dictionary, and she creates her own dictionary to immortalize the words and experiences of these marginalized women. The action, written in the first person, occurs amidst the backdrop of the suffrage movement in England as women are fighting to have their voices heard. Main themes of the book revolve around words: whose words matter, how words define reality, and who gets a seat at the table when deciding upon important issues of language.