The Dictionary of Lost Words

Esme visits the market alone to pick up new words and dialects. She makes a new friend: an actress named Tilda. Tilda teaches Esme the word “Dollymop,” or a part-time sex worker, which Esme writes on a slip for her collection. At one of Tilda’s performances, Esme meets Tilda’s younger brother Bill, who explains that Tilda raised them both as their parents were absent. Tilda, Bill, and Esme go to a pub, where Tilda tells them she’s been offered another role in Much Ado About Nothing, while Esme considers their casual use of swear words. Esme begins visiting Tilda and Bill often. She watches play rehearsals and grows closer to Bill.

Dr. Murray grows increasingly frustrated with the Dictionary’s slow progress. Esme feels unfulfilled at work and asks Dr. Murray if she can do more to contribute.

Esme regularly attends Tilda’s performances alongside Bill. Esme brings Lizzie to see the play; Lizzie is uncomfortable with Esme’s new friends and their lifestyle, and Esme begins to see a gulf between Lizzie and them. She asks Harry’s opinion, and he encourages her to grow and learn. One night after a performance, Esme accompanies Tilda and Bill to a meeting of suffragettes, where Esme learns a new meaning for the word “Sisters.” The group convinces her to secretly distribute pamphlets around the neighborhood. When Harry discovers a pamphlet at the Scriptorium, he offers it to Esme as a point of interest. Esme and Lizzie argue about the future of women’s rights.

After Tilda’s final performance, Esme returns to the pub with Tilda and Bill. Tilda and Esme talk about a woman’s ability to enjoy sex. At the end of the evening, Esme and Bill have sex. The siblings leave for Manchester, where they will further support the suffrage cause through the Women’s Social and Political Union, the real-life organization run by Emmeline Pankhurst.

Esme adjusts to Tilda and Bill being away. She considers her feelings for both siblings; she does not love Bill, but is grateful for her experience with him; she feels unfulfilled without Tilda’s presence. When Esme starts feeling ill, Lizzie figures out that Esme is pregnant. Esme wonders what being an unwed mother will mean for her and Harry. At the market, Mabel notices Esme’s condition and gives her the address of Mrs. Smyth, an abortionist who can help. When Esme meets Mrs. Smyth, however, she is told that she’s come too late and the fetus is too far along for Mrs. Smyth to perform the procedure. Esme feels relieved, but she also does not believe in the convention of marrying because of an unplanned pregnancy. Ditte arranges for Esme to be her research assistant for a season to help keep the pregnancy secret.

Esme leaves for Bath, where she’ll stay with Aunts Ditte and Beth, who praise Esme’s “reputation”—they’ve heard from Dr. Murray that she is a “natural scholar” (192). Ditte and Beth are friends with learned men who engage in conversation and debate; Esme is shocked at the way the two sisters are listened to and respected. Beth is working on an illicit novel, while Esme assists Ditte with research for an upcoming history project.

Esme wears a wedding ring while out so her pregnancy does not attract unwanted attention. Esme also meets her aunts’ close friend Sarah, who, along with her husband, is interested in adopting Esme’s baby as Sarah has miscarried twice. Esme gives birth and nurses her newborn before agreeing to leave her with Sarah. Sarah, her husband, and their new daughter move away to Australia.