The First Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary was originally published in printed instalments known as ‘fascicles.’ The process took more than 44 years and was only completed in 1928. Various supplementary volumes were subsequently published but it wasn’t until 1989 that the Second Edition was published.

I remember the second coming very well. I’d been working at the advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi in London and had my name placed in a draw prior to the momentous event. The winner would take home volumes comprising the entire, new Second Edition. That winner was me and it was and is one of my most treasured possessions. No time for fascicles in my lifetime!

I was therefore drawn to this novel by Pip Williams by its title and premise of both a great work being compiled, but also a second volume comprising forgotten words or those that were rejected variously as ‘slang’ or merely words that ‘women would use’ in a period in history where the compilers and decision makers were, of course, men. Words had to have appeared in written form, researched and verified, and thus the gaps that our lead character Esme felt compelled to fill from the nation’s oral traditions.

I found Esme’s character entirely believable and was captivated by the charming way she interacted with her father – Da – and the maid Lizzie. Through these relationships we learn much of lost love, limited ambition and an acceptance of a male-dominated status quo which is ultimately tested by the Suffragette Movement itself. Words lead to actions and actions lead to many more words.

The Great War plays a huge part in the process for both the Oxford environment in which the book is so beautifully placed, as well as those who left it, never to return. I did think that there would have been more historical references, not only angst over the build-up to the war, but also the death of the Queen which must have had a massive impact on these late-Victorian men and the standards they held so highly.

I also didn’t really enjoy the ending of the book. I got it, but it somehow didn’t complete the circle of this story’s life.
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Overall though I thought this was a wonderful read that drew me into a world that I had known nothing about when those sumptuous new volumes arrived on my doorstep.

The quite ludicrous premise of this book is that an aristocrat - Count Alexander Rostov - who has until now lived in the highest echelons of Russian society, who hasn't worked for a single day of his life, is escorted out of the Kremlin and into the faded - changed - glory of the Hotel Metropole and a tiny attic room where he is expected to live out the remainder of his life, effectively under house arrest. That we believe this and are taken in by the story that follows, makes it, for me, a work of genius.

The Russia of 1922 is witnessing a period of readjustment to the new ways of doing things - new strata in society - following the seismic trauma of revolution. It is against this monochrome background that the story is set and yet the rich colours which re-appear as the Count’s story is told are truly beautiful.

While we are led to sympathise with the Count’s reduced circumstances, rather than glory in the overthrow of him and his ruling class, the respect shown to him remains, even as he is similarly unrepentant over his opposition to the concept of ‘equality.’ If he is a lost cause to the Bolsheviks he is the source of an urbane and witty humour for the rest of us and on his journey, as well as ours with him, he undoubtedly discovers more about himself, exposed as he is like never before. The characters he meets and befriends in this most unlikely of circumstances are as spellbinding as the writing is simply breath-taking.

I was bewitched by the unusual scenes amid the usual snobbery – moved sideways rather than downwards – and, literally, couldn’t wait for the next scene to unfold, the next story within a story to be told.
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I especially loved his relationship with Nina and the protective blanket he attempted to throw over her daughter Sofia. The denouement of these relationships towards an unexpectedly glorious ending to the book when the Count is finally allowed to leave the hotel is lovely and left me satisfied and yet wanting more – much more. Without doubt, this is one of the finest books I have read.