The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams

 I enjoyed this book immensely. It brought the creation of the OED to life in a delightful blend of history and fiction. Esme is the main fictional character, and at age six already hides for hours below the work table in the Scriptorium, "a place for writing" listening intently to the men including her father who were reviewing the words being considered for inclusion in the first edition of the multi-volume OED. Esme develops a passion for the words, collecting scraps of paper with discarded or lost words which she saves and savors. Her story unfolds in the context of Victorian era Oxford, the Suffrage movement, and World War 1, and explores the inherent bias of the OED as created by men who did not include words that were reflective of language used by women and the poor. This narrative brims with life, describing the time period with assurance, and the characters both real and imagined carry the narrative forward energetically and engagingly.