"Set in the early 1900s, this story tells the untold story of how the Oxford dictionary came to be, particularly of the words that were decidedly left out. A young girl, Esmé, becomes fascinated with words and their meaning, her curiosity blossoming from her discovery of the word “bondmaid.” As Esmé contemplates the meaning of the word and it’s significance, she is also puzzled as to why it was discarded and not included in the dictionary. As she grows up, she learns that words mean different things to different people, and unfortunately, certain men had the privilege of deciding their meaning and their importance. Esmé records words and their meanings from people she encounters in her real life, words that may otherwise be excluded from the dictionary due their use by poor people or by women. She ultimately creates a new dictionary, the Dictionary of Lost Words. I enjoyed the thought-provoking perspective the author provides of the power of language." - L. Ngo
3/4 stars.