The Dictionary of Lost Words Book Club Questions With a delightful and lyrical style, The Dictionary of Lost Words is a book that celebrates language and offers a glimpse into the struggles of women at a time of great upheaval. Join Esme on her journey through a time of great change as the women’s suffrage movement gains momentum, and the shadow of war looms over the horizon. And so, while helping her father and his team of lexicographers compile the prestigious Oxford English Dictionary, Esme secretly gathers the lost words that tell the stories of women’s lives. With a thirst for knowledge and a love of language, Esme finds herself drawn to this strange world of words – forgotten words, misplaced words, words that no one seems to care about.Īnd thus, the Dictionary of Lost Words is born!īut it’s not all fun and games in this world of words.Įsme soon learns that certain words are deemed more important than others, the latter being those particularly relating to women’s experiences. Welcome to the whimsical world of Esme, a curious and mischievous young girl who spends her childhood among the words that will soon be added to the first and probably the most popular dictionary in the world.

You will understand how different social movements in history have shaped our language and how we can pay tribute to the lost words of our past. This list of book club questions for The Dictionary of Lost Words will help you and your fellow bibliophiles explore and understand the novel in a much better way.

The lost words book