The Dictionary of Lost Words

Set against the backdrop of the burgeoning Oxford English Dictionary in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, "The Dictionary of Lost Words" follows the compelling journey of Esme Nicoll. As a motherless child, Esme spends her formative years beneath the tables of the Scriptorium, where her father and a team of lexicographers meticulously compile the first Oxford English Dictionary. One day, a discarded slip containing a 'lost' word sparks a revelation in Esme, leading her to embark on a secret project: her own dictionary, dedicated to words omitted, overlooked, or deemed inconsequential by the male-dominated academic world, particularly those words describing women's experiences and emotions. As the Great War looms and the suffragette movement gains momentum, Esme's life intertwines with these historical shifts, challenging societal norms and her own understanding of language's power. Her quest for meaning, both personal and linguistic, becomes a poignant exploration of identity, love, loss, and the fight for female voices to be heard and recorded.