The Dictionary of Lost Words

the very first Oxford English Dictionary. Esme’s place is beneath the sorting table, unseen and unheard. One day, she sees a slip containing the word bondmaid flutter to the floor unclaimed. Esme seizes the word and hides it in an old wooden trunk that belongs to her friend, Lizzie, a young servant in the big house. Esme begins to collect other words from the Scriptorium that are misplaced, discarded or have been neglected by the dictionary men. They help her make sense of the world.
Over time, Esme realises that some words are considered more important than others, and that words and meanings relating to women’s experiences often go unrecorded. She begins to collect words for another dictionary: The Dictionary of Lost Words.
Set when the women’s suffrage movement was at its height and the Great War loomed, The Dictionary of Lost Words reveals a lost narrative, hidden between the lines of a history written by men. It’s a delightful, lyrical and deeply thought-provoking celebration of words, and the power of language to shape our experience of the world.

Table of Contents
About the Author
Tom Keneally
Copyright
Title
Dedication
Prologue
Part 1
May 1887
April 1888
April 1891
August 1893
September 1896
Part 2
August 1897
April 1898
September 1898
August 1901
Part 3
May 1902
May 1906
June 1906
December 1906
March 1907
Part 4
September 1907
November 1907
November 1908
May 1909
December 1912
January 1913
May 1913
Part 5
August 1914
May 1915
July 1915
September 1915
Part 6
November 1928
Epilogue
Author’s note
Acknowledgements
Timeline Of The Oxford English Dictionary
Timeline Of Major Historical Events Featured In The Novel
Back Cover