So, I finished this book over the weekend. I was gifted this one by a friend in August. And to be honest, the title and the cover design made me pick it up from my many unread books. I loved this book. I love learning new vocabulary and its meanings, and this book is just about that; words.
This book is inspired by the real-life characters involved in making the first English Dictionary. I had no idea how much work was put into this.
One thing that was a shock to me is how the same word can be used differently by men and women. And how some words were lost because they were not written down by famous people.
It made me think about how many Swahili words are lost. It might be my ignorance of the topic, but I think we have not written much of the history of our language and culture as a country.
But also how some words can mean different things when spoken by different sexes. Like some words are more meaningful when spoken by people you love. So much research went into this book. And I loved how the writer brought her characters to life.
My favourite was Esme. Who tells this story from when she was just a baby? My favourite character was Ditte – who worked for the Oxford Dictionary. I loved how the author portrayed her.
I recommend it to anyone who enjoys history. It is a long one but a good read.️️️️
Happy reading 🙂
Until next time,
Jane
