Scan barcode
ashlynmae311's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Pregnancy
Moderate: Death, War, and Sexism
Minor: Death of parent and Abortion
beautifulpaxielreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
As the title suggests, this is a book about words, more specifically those words that are not considered important enough to be compiled into the first-ever edition of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). Since the task of compiling the OED is largely left to older white men, inevitably their ingrained biases ensure that the dictionary is skewed towards a male view of the world, and this is writ large when it comes to the male attitude to women.
In the year 1901, one of the OED's loyal fans discovered that the word "bondmaid" was missing from the dictionary. It is from this factual nugget that Pip Williams has constructed the fictional character and heroine of the novel, Esme Nicoll. The story of the novel is the story of Esme's life, covering late Victorian-era Great Britain to the First World War.
The novel was written almost entirely (
In terms of other characters, I most liked Harry, Esme's widowed father, Edith "Ditte" Thompson, Esme's mentor and mother figure, and Lizzie, a serving maid at Murray household where Esme spends her childhood and whom Esme eventually
I also had some issues with the novel's structure and pacing, which seemed uneven to me. Even though the beginning of each chapter stated the year and the month in which it was set, the time jumps could be hours, days, weeks, or even months at a time. These jumps were not always consistent, leaving me confused as to just how much time had passed between the beginning and end of a chapter. It kind of felt a bit lumpy.
Ultimately, it was the themes of this novel that I most strongly resonated with - the way certain words were defined to degrade not only by gender but by social status, the way words could come to mean more than one thing, the development of slang and curse words, and most poignantly, the inadequacy of words to describe the human experience.
This is a novel that, to me, asks two fundamental questions: Whose words matter? And almost more importantly, who gets to decide?
A moving, thought-provoking read.
Graphic: Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Death, Death of parent, Pregnancy, War, Sexism, and Grief
Moderate: Colonisation, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Sexual content, Confinement, Bullying, Blood, and Physical abuse
Minor: Alcohol, Slavery, Racism, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual harassment
This novel takes place during the rise of the first wave of feminism in the early 20th century. It includes a discussion and descriptions ofwaytoomanybooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Moderate: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Classism, Medical content, War, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Death of parent, Gun violence, Abortion, and Sexism
Minor: Car accident
vbsauce's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Pregnancy, Sexism, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Death, War, Grief, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts
zombiezami's review against another edition
4.75
Graphic: Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, and Sexism
Moderate: Grief, War, Death, Gore, Police brutality, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Blood, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Medical content, and Confinement
Minor: Slavery, Abortion, Child death, Infertility, Mental illness, Colonisation, and Rape
jocelynzoe's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Moderate: Abortion, Death of parent, Misogyny, and Pregnancy
Minor: Alcohol, War, Grief, and Sexism
emilyslater's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Pregnancy, Abortion, War, Violence, Death, Grief, Hate crime, and Sexism
jaydeecepticon's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Sexism
Moderate: War
asienerbrown's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Grief, Pregnancy, and Death of parent
Moderate: Sexual content, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, and War
theothergrl's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
The other thing I love about this book is the way it's told through the words Esme collects. Just as she's starting to explore adulthood and rebel a little, she learns vulgar words, which I loved! As we explores life -sex, love, loss, independence -we do so through the words we learn along the way, that define and make sense of our experiences. The way the story unfolds as her dictionary grows is very poignant and effective, I cried so many times reading this! This book was such a wonderful experience.
Graphic: War, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Sexism, and Classism
Moderate: Abortion, War, Alcohol, Child abuse, Death, and Cursing
Minor: Torture, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Slavery, and Suicidal thoughts