Tumelo Motaung

Raised in the Scriptorium, a metal shed on the residence of the Dr James Murray, the Editor of the Oxford English Dictionary; and as any child surrounded by words and the lexicographers who work tirelessly to define them, she grows fond of the words scrolled, cut up, and pinned to slips in the pigeonholes that line the walls of the small workspace and her life. This, at a time when academia is a male sport, Esme realises that the choice of words that end up in the dictionary and the meaning ascribed to each of them favours the patriarchal lawns of her society and does nothing to reflect the realities of the many women who toil relentlessly to keep them luscious green. A fun, deeply reflective and harrowing account of words, their use and distortion, The Dictionary of Lost Words is as unputdownable as it is an ocean of wisdom. Pip Williams did an incredible job of archiving the history of words, what they mean, and how we relate to them. An endearing friendship with Lizzy, the Murray’s bondmaid, introduces Esme to the ideals of justice at a time when this word does not apply to women. Although Lizzy is only a few years older than Esme, her place in society is cast in stone; never changing, heavy, like the rosary her hand rushes to find around her neck when words fail her. I easily fall in love with Lizzy; with her benevolent manner, her simple knackerd life. She reminds me of what it is to give everything of yourself when you have nothing to gain, a love unconditional. She raises Esme when she herself is only a child and stands by her every decision (good and otherwise), never condemning, till the very end. Her work ethic is impeccable, which is reassuring when you exist in a time that favours modicum over mastery. It is Esme’s simple life that I am most drawn to. Having failed at an education, she spends day after day, year after year, behind a school desk between pigeon holes in the back of the Scriptorium. Except for an exciting season of Much Ado About Nothing at the local theatre, this is her life, and remains so till something inside her shifts and she cannot be complicit in the fight for the rights of women.