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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
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
purplepenning's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Sexism, War, and Classism
Moderate: Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Blood, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Death, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Alcohol, Child abuse, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Cursing, and Forced institutionalization
katievallin'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? No
5.0
Graphic: Sexism, Grief, Cursing, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Pregnancy, War, Classism, Death, Death of parent, and Violence
Minor: Abortion, Alcohol, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Blood, Car accident, Infertility, Medical content, Body shaming, and Sexual content
gondorgirl's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Alcohol, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Death, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, War, Classism, Medical content, Misogyny, and Pregnancy
sargasso_c's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: War, Abandonment, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, and Death
Moderate: Pregnancy, Sexism, Misogyny, Medical content, Cursing, and Classism
Minor: Car accident and Injury/Injury detail
thumbeleia's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Ableism, Car accident, Classism, Terminal illness, War, Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Confinement, Infertility, Panic attacks/disorders, and Child death
Minor: Abandonment, Alcohol, and Sexual content
savvyrosereads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Esme is the daughter of a lexicographer working on the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary. But as she grows older and more familiar with her father’s work, Esme begins to realize the words of women and the working class are left out of the OED—and begins to collect them for herself, instead.
This was the November pick for a book club I’m part of and I was so excited because the premise sounded incredible—feminist historical fiction about the importance of words and the way the language we hear and preserve impacts our view of the world? Sign me up immediately!
Unfortunately, I didn’t feel like this one lived up to the promise of that premise quite as well as it could have. I found myself repeatedly frustrated by large time jumps and unresolved plot points, and was ultimately pretty frustrated by an ending that felt a bit haphazard. I wanted to be drawn into this book and this world, but I instead found myself a somewhat bored observer of vignettes that sometimes felt almost random, disconnected from the larger narrative for no discernible plot-serving reason.
Still, at the end of the day the concept is spectacular and I felt like the message the book sends has real value—and did make me cry multiple times. If you decide to pick this one up, know that you’re in for fairly slow historical fiction—but if you are a word nerd you will probably enjoy most of the ride.
Recommended to anyone, but especially if you like: feminist historical fiction; words and linguistics; fiction with a message
CW: Pregnancy/post partum depression; death/death of a parent; war/PTSD/injury.
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Grief, and War
Moderate: Sexism, Classism, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content
katekatiekait's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Moderate: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Bullying, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Misogyny, Violence, Grief, Sexism, and War
Minor: Abortion, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Medical content