---
product_id: 433637355
title: "The Dictionary of Lost Words: Reese's Book Club: A Novel"
price: "R340"
currency: ZAR
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 8
url: https://www.desertcart.co.za/products/433637355-the-dictionary-of-lost-words-reeses-book-club-a-novel
store_origin: ZA
region: South Africa
---

# The Dictionary of Lost Words: Reese's Book Club: A Novel

**Price:** R340
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- **How much does it cost?** R340 with free shipping
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## Description

desertcart.com: The Dictionary of Lost Words: Reese's Book Club: A Novel: 9781984820747: Williams, Pip: Books

Review: This novel is a dream read for anyone who loves everything about words! - This novel is a dream read for anyone who loves everything about words! Pip Williams’ historic fiction about the making of the Oxford Dictionary at the turn of the 20th century is fascinating! Esme, the young protagonist, learns the power of words from her father’s world as a lexicographer. She starts collecting words that are lost, the first word being bondmaid. As she grows, so does her awareness of whose words are not being collected for the dictionary—those used by women. Williams’ seamlessly weaves facts along with fiction and her beautiful imagery to create a believable story world, a sympathetic hero, and an original premise. Synopsis: Motherless and irrepressibly curious, Esme spends her childhood in the Scriptorium, a team of lexicographers are gathering words for the very first Oxford English Dictionary. Esme begins to collect words that are misplaced, discarded or have been neglected by the dictionary men. They help her make sense of the world. Set when the women’s suffrage movement was at its height and the Great War loomed, The Dictionary of Lost Words reveals a lost narrative, hidden between the lines of a history written by men. I love this book, so much so it has become one of my top ten favorites. I highly recommend reading or listening to it!
Review: Deeply moving - a must read! - 4⭐️ Overall this book was really thought-provoking and really emotionally developed. The authors relationship with words was surprisingly whimsical and so well thought-out that it enhanced the reading experience. It’s made me think about my own relationship with words and how they continue to have different meanings in contexts that may or may not be able to be clearly defined or preserved over time. The prologue was short but told a really compelling story, so I was immediately drawn in. “Some words are more important than others - I learned this growing up in the Scriptorium. But it took me a long time to understand why.” I really enjoyed the authors use of words as the links of the chains that comprised Esme’s life. Her relationship with words and her need to learn new words in response to challenges was woven seamlessly into the story and showed Esme’s rational problem-solving characteristics. The authors use of words, or lack thereof, was able to perfectly describe how Esme was feeling, because words were her safe space. The link between language and her character development was really well written, and really smart to embed so deeply into the story. It was a whirlwind of emotions - I cried on page 68 and laughed on page 70. I found that the emotions calmed down a bit further into the book as the pacing slowed. I will say that there was a lot of tragedy embedded in this book, and maybe that was intentional, but I felt like some of it was a bit overwhelming, and some of the tragedies later on in the book could have been removed without changing the impact of the story. My biggest issue with the book was the pacing, because some of it was slower paced than other parts. Understandably, this makes sense given the storyline and the time it takes to make the Dictionary, but some sections felt unnecessary or overwritten. This may also be a personal preference, as I’m not a big Historical Fiction fan. With that said though, the pacing of the story is very realistic with the timeline of the Dictionary, so it’s understandable and forgiven. Some of the narrative and plot of the story feels a little disjointed in the second half of the book, like the story lost its way from the original trajectory, so that also threw me off a bit. I resonated a lot more with the first half than the second. I like that each part started with the section of the dictionary that was completed while the plot was taking place alongside the years in which the section occurred. Part 1 started with “Batten - Distrustful”, Part 2 started with “Distrustfully - Kyx”, Part 3 started with “Lap - Nywe”, Part 4 started with “Polygenous - Sorrow”, Part 5 was “Speech - Sullen” and Part 6 is “Wise - Wyzen”. The Dictionary took a LONG time to complete, so noting the story not only by years but by the progress of the Dictionary was really inventive. “Words are our tools of resurrection” - pg 24 “It was a mistake for any of us to assume the Scriptorium was not a suitable place to grow and learn. Our thinking was limited by convention (the most subtle but oppressive dictator). Please forgive our lack of imagination.” - pg 97 “All words are not equal (and as I write this, I think I see your concern more clearly: if the words of one group are considered worthier of preservation than those of another … well, you have given me pause for thought).” - pg 97 “She couldn’t be defined by any of the words I found, and eventually I stopped looking.” - pg 188

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | #4,757 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #85 in Women's Friendship Fiction #86 in Mothers & Children Fiction #327 in Women's Domestic Life Fiction |
| Customer Reviews | 4.4 out of 5 stars 36,762 Reviews |

## Images

![The Dictionary of Lost Words: Reese's Book Club: A Novel - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91ZmqZtbXrL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ This novel is a dream read for anyone who loves everything about words!
*by M***N on January 19, 2025*

This novel is a dream read for anyone who loves everything about words! Pip Williams’ historic fiction about the making of the Oxford Dictionary at the turn of the 20th century is fascinating! Esme, the young protagonist, learns the power of words from her father’s world as a lexicographer. She starts collecting words that are lost, the first word being bondmaid. As she grows, so does her awareness of whose words are not being collected for the dictionary—those used by women. Williams’ seamlessly weaves facts along with fiction and her beautiful imagery to create a believable story world, a sympathetic hero, and an original premise. Synopsis: Motherless and irrepressibly curious, Esme spends her childhood in the Scriptorium, a team of lexicographers are gathering words for the very first Oxford English Dictionary. Esme begins to collect words that are misplaced, discarded or have been neglected by the dictionary men. They help her make sense of the world. Set when the women’s suffrage movement was at its height and the Great War loomed, The Dictionary of Lost Words reveals a lost narrative, hidden between the lines of a history written by men. I love this book, so much so it has become one of my top ten favorites. I highly recommend reading or listening to it!

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Deeply moving - a must read!
*by M***E on May 25, 2025*

4⭐️ Overall this book was really thought-provoking and really emotionally developed. The authors relationship with words was surprisingly whimsical and so well thought-out that it enhanced the reading experience. It’s made me think about my own relationship with words and how they continue to have different meanings in contexts that may or may not be able to be clearly defined or preserved over time. The prologue was short but told a really compelling story, so I was immediately drawn in. “Some words are more important than others - I learned this growing up in the Scriptorium. But it took me a long time to understand why.” I really enjoyed the authors use of words as the links of the chains that comprised Esme’s life. Her relationship with words and her need to learn new words in response to challenges was woven seamlessly into the story and showed Esme’s rational problem-solving characteristics. The authors use of words, or lack thereof, was able to perfectly describe how Esme was feeling, because words were her safe space. The link between language and her character development was really well written, and really smart to embed so deeply into the story. It was a whirlwind of emotions - I cried on page 68 and laughed on page 70. I found that the emotions calmed down a bit further into the book as the pacing slowed. I will say that there was a lot of tragedy embedded in this book, and maybe that was intentional, but I felt like some of it was a bit overwhelming, and some of the tragedies later on in the book could have been removed without changing the impact of the story. My biggest issue with the book was the pacing, because some of it was slower paced than other parts. Understandably, this makes sense given the storyline and the time it takes to make the Dictionary, but some sections felt unnecessary or overwritten. This may also be a personal preference, as I’m not a big Historical Fiction fan. With that said though, the pacing of the story is very realistic with the timeline of the Dictionary, so it’s understandable and forgiven. Some of the narrative and plot of the story feels a little disjointed in the second half of the book, like the story lost its way from the original trajectory, so that also threw me off a bit. I resonated a lot more with the first half than the second. I like that each part started with the section of the dictionary that was completed while the plot was taking place alongside the years in which the section occurred. Part 1 started with “Batten - Distrustful”, Part 2 started with “Distrustfully - Kyx”, Part 3 started with “Lap - Nywe”, Part 4 started with “Polygenous - Sorrow”, Part 5 was “Speech - Sullen” and Part 6 is “Wise - Wyzen”. The Dictionary took a LONG time to complete, so noting the story not only by years but by the progress of the Dictionary was really inventive. “Words are our tools of resurrection” - pg 24 “It was a mistake for any of us to assume the Scriptorium was not a suitable place to grow and learn. Our thinking was limited by convention (the most subtle but oppressive dictator). Please forgive our lack of imagination.” - pg 97 “All words are not equal (and as I write this, I think I see your concern more clearly: if the words of one group are considered worthier of preservation than those of another … well, you have given me pause for thought).” - pg 97 “She couldn’t be defined by any of the words I found, and eventually I stopped looking.” - pg 188

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Fascinating and Inspiring
*by K***E on July 25, 2025*

I don't know if my own interest in words and the various meaning that can be conveyed in their usage is what made this novel so dang interesting, but I could not get enough. The pacing is such that I was never ever bored. Then, the author's method of weaving the work of putting together the Oxford English Dictionary with the Women's Suffrage movement and then WWI....just amazing. I loved Esme's character and her relationship with her dad, Da. All interactions between the characters were always interesting as well as thought-provoking in most instances. Loved that Esme was neither rich or poor. A perfect position to observe how the classes were treated and the amount of power (or not having power) each were afforded. Just a wonderfully-told fictional history that makes what one might think of as a dry subject, amazingly interesting. This book is a keeper and I highly, highly recommend it. AAAA++++

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*Product available on Desertcart South Africa*
*Store origin: ZA*
*Last updated: 2026-02-03*