The word ‘Bondmaid’ was discovered missing from the first Oxford English Dictionary. This is the story of the girl who stole it. Esme is born into a world of words; she spends her childhood in the ‘Scriptorium,’ a garden shed in Oxford where her father and a team of dedicated lexicographers are collecting words for the Dictionary. As a child, Esme’s place is beneath the sorting table, unseen and unheard. One day a slip of paper containing the word ‘bondmaid’ flutters to the floor. Esme rescues the slip and stashes it in an old wooden case that belongs to her friend, Lizzie, a young servant. Esme begins to collect other words from the Scriptorium that are misplaced, discarded, or neglected by the dictionary men. Over time, Esme realizes that some words are considered more important than others and that words and meanings relating to women’s experiences often go unrecorded. While she dedicates her life to the Oxford English Dictionary, secretly, she begins to collect words for another dictionary: The Dictionary of Lost Words. The Dictionary of Lost Words reveals a lost narrative: the narrative of women’s involvement in the dictionary and the significance of the women’s suffrage movement.
As this novel was set during the fight for women’s suffrage, there were many themes of female equality and empowerment. There was one woman, Tilda, who embodied these ideals throughout the novel. She was a suffragette who inspired and pushed Esme to contribute and face the oppression in her own way. Additionally, there were so many women who actually contributed to the real Oxford English Dictionary who were brought to life in this novel, which is empowering to learn about. Although women have been overlooked at many points in history, they always had an impact.
A theme that was commonly threaded throughout the novel was belonging. Esme constantly looked for her purpose and the place where she fit in while doing what she loved. She had many obstacles throughout the novel, as all protagonists do and as we all do in life, but eventually, she found her way and overcame all that she went through in the process. I thought that her journey and growth as a person were relatable and inspiring.
Finally, family played an important role in this novel—even unconventional family. The people who are there to support you in the darkest times are your family too. Esme always had her Da, but because she was motherless, she had other maternal figures in her life, like Ditte—her father’s friend—and her friend, Lizzie. Throughout the novel, they were there for her by giving her advice and comfort when she needed it most.
I loved how fiction was woven into history in the novel. A big premise of the book was that Esme stole the word ‘bondmaid,’ and if you actually look in the originally published dictionary, the word bondmaid is missing. Additionally, almost all of the characters were actual people who helped edit the Dictionary, and I love whenever historical fiction novels do that. This book was very well written and honestly very educational as well. If you just love historical fiction this is a good one because it’s not a common history timeline that we learn about. If you have an interest in words and linguistics, this is definitely an interesting fiction read.
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