Reading The Dictionary of Lost Words was an interesting experience. For the first third of the book I appreciated what the book was doing but was a bit disinterested, already well familiar with the idea that words and knowledge from women and working class folks has been and continues to be devalued compared to the higher-class white male "canon." The events Esme went through during her childhood felt a bit repetitive and predictable to me, and I thought maybe the reason I wasn't feeling invested was related to the way that Williams elided the details about some of the events her protagonist went through, such as her experience at boarding school.

However, I grew to appreciate the way Williams focused on the impacts of events and how Esme used old and new words to interpret them, carefully choosing when and how to share more traumatic details. And ultimately I was fully invested and moved by the story; I bawled through the final part of the book.