AustLit

'At one point early on in this excellent debut novel, The Dictionary of Lost Words, set in Oxford 120 years ago, it appears as though Esme may have to choose between getting married and becoming an editor, a choice that doesn’t seem as outdated as it should. Esme actually has no interest in getting married just then, whereas – like her father – she has a natural predilection for words.'  (Introduction)

'This is a story about words, but not just any words. Pip Williams's novel The Dictionary of Lost Words centers around the creation of the English language's most famous collection of words: The Oxford English Dictionary, or OED. Self-proclaimed as "the definitive record of the English language," today this dictionary contains over six hundred thousand words, boasts three and a half million quotations that help define these words, and represents over one thousand years of the English language.' (Introduction)

'A best-selling novel set during the women’s suffrage movement is having its theatrical premiere, writes Stephanie Sekulovska When Pip Williams told people she was writing a novel about the Oxford English Dictionary, their eyes would glaze over at her in pity. Loved ones and colleagues thought she was doomed to failure.' (Introduction)