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evas_book_reviews 's review for:
The Dictionary of Lost Words
by Pip Williams
This is a story that needed to be told wrapped in gorgeous writing and precise, beautiful characters.
I recall The Dictionary of Lost Words caught my eye when it was published and I’ve spotted it many a time in bookshops, always intending to buy and read. A family member recommended it to me and for that, I will be eternally thankful to her as I don’t believe I would have read it otherwise.
Williams has created a truly wonderful historical fiction piece, focusing on the creation and eventual publication of the first edition of the Oxford Dictionary. Utilising her fictional main character, she explores and expresses the lives of the people who were touched by the dictionary and in particular the women who spent much of their lives focused on the dictionary and its words, yet were never recognised.
I loved every element of this book, from beginning to end was a complete delight. Williams brought her characters to life in a wonderful manner, evoking many emotions from the reader. I fell in love with Esme (MC) and followed her adventures as if they were my own. All the characters (both fiction based and real - of which there are many) are complex, and their emotions and relations to the dictionary and each other ignite the audience’s interest and indicate the importance of the dictionary itself. I felt that Williams beautifully portrayed the real people her novel was based on without overly romanticising them and their roles in the story.
If you enjoy words and historical fiction, and especially if you enjoyed Babel by R. F. Kuang, I recommend giving this novel a go, while it is more historical fiction than Babel and has no fantasy elements I believe the two stories hold hands in more ways than one.
A beautiful piece and one of my new all-time favourites (definitely the best first-person narrated novel I’ve ever read), 5/5 stars.
I recall The Dictionary of Lost Words caught my eye when it was published and I’ve spotted it many a time in bookshops, always intending to buy and read. A family member recommended it to me and for that, I will be eternally thankful to her as I don’t believe I would have read it otherwise.
Williams has created a truly wonderful historical fiction piece, focusing on the creation and eventual publication of the first edition of the Oxford Dictionary. Utilising her fictional main character, she explores and expresses the lives of the people who were touched by the dictionary and in particular the women who spent much of their lives focused on the dictionary and its words, yet were never recognised.
I loved every element of this book, from beginning to end was a complete delight. Williams brought her characters to life in a wonderful manner, evoking many emotions from the reader. I fell in love with Esme (MC) and followed her adventures as if they were my own. All the characters (both fiction based and real - of which there are many) are complex, and their emotions and relations to the dictionary and each other ignite the audience’s interest and indicate the importance of the dictionary itself. I felt that Williams beautifully portrayed the real people her novel was based on without overly romanticising them and their roles in the story.
If you enjoy words and historical fiction, and especially if you enjoyed Babel by R. F. Kuang, I recommend giving this novel a go, while it is more historical fiction than Babel and has no fantasy elements I believe the two stories hold hands in more ways than one.
A beautiful piece and one of my new all-time favourites (definitely the best first-person narrated novel I’ve ever read), 5/5 stars.