國際暢銷小說《失落詞詞典》姊妹作思索階級、性別、家庭與戰爭之書「我們的命運太平凡了，眾神才懶得關心，而我們的旅程最遠只會到達出版社。」牽動世界各國命運的第一次世界大戰，改變了歐洲的國際情勢。位於英國傑里科克萊倫敦出版社的裝訂廠裡，有一個渴望求學、受教育，勝過於裝訂書籍的女孩，見證了戰火帶來的創傷，同時邂逅了愛情，更發現她能夠透過閱讀來改變自己。追求知識與理想，交織戰火、親情與愛情一段充滿創傷、淚水與希望的底層女性聲音居住在牛津運河船上的書籍裝訂工廠女工佩姬，從十二歲就進入位於傑里科的克萊倫敦出版社的裝訂廠工作，每天負責為印刷好的稿件摺紙、配頁和裝訂。在機械般重複工作的縫隙，她總是偷偷閱讀著她摺紙和配頁的書稿，儘管它們缺少前言和後語。佩姬一直羨慕著能進入牛津薩默維爾女子學院的學生，她們能盡情地閱讀文學、史學、哲學、化學。然而第一次世界大戰的烽火與流亡的難民改變了她的生活。隨著英國大舉徵兵，印刷廠的男丁，舉國上下的男人陸續投入戰場，而牛津社區也迎來比利時逃亡過來的倖存者，薩默維爾學院也被暫時徵用為傷兵收容醫院。「想做點什麼」的佩姬志願成為照顧傷兵的朗讀與寫字員，替他們讀字與寫信。動盪不安的戰爭氛圍是小說中的背景音，作者琵璞．威廉斯（Pip Williams）以平實而細膩的筆法，描寫在第一次世界大戰的殘酷歷史中，裝訂廠女工如何面對親情的缺口與感情的追求；以女性小人物的視野，演繹一段在社會階級和性別限制的時代下，女性追尋知識的歷史。本書特色★國際暢銷小說《失落詞詞典》（The Dictionary of Lost Words）姊妹之作★亞馬遜讀者4.5星好評★琵璞．威廉斯（Pip Williams）又一歷史與女性書寫的感人力作★一部橫跨多元類型的作品：融合英國文學、歷史小說、職人小說、女性小說★深刻描寫牛津出版社書籍裝訂廠小人物於戰爭背景下的命運與生活各方盛讚──「《傑里科的書籍裝訂工》是一部自信且思慮周詳的姊妹作，它豐富了威廉斯（Williams）的文學世界，同時也探討了階級、家庭、創傷和紀念。威廉斯完全融入了書籍裝訂工廠的世界，這一點表現得淋漓盡致──幾乎每一頁都是無可挑剔的。」──《衛報》（The Guardian）「（一部）迷人的姊妹作。」──《澳大利亞女性週刊》（The Australian Women’s Weekly）「對知識的取得和女性在戰時的經歷進行了卓越
Reese Witherspoon has selected Pip Williams’ international bestseller The Dictionary of Lost Words for her influential Reese’s Book Club pick for May 2022'An enchanting story about love, loss and the power of language' Elizabeth Macneal, author of The Doll Factory Sometimes you have to start with what's lost to truly find yourself... Motherless and irrepressibly curious, Esme spends her childhood at her father's feet as he and his team gather words for the very first Oxford English Dictionary. One day, she sees a slip of paper containing a forgotten word flutter to the floor unclaimed.And so Esme begins to collect words for another dictionary in secret: The Dictionary of Lost Words. But to do so she must journey into a world on the cusp of change as the Great War looms and women fight for the vote. Can the power of lost words from the past finally help her make sense of her future?‘An extraordinary, charming novel... Williams pins a whole, rich life to the page’ The Times‘Poignant, per
The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) holds a cherished position in English literary culture. The story behind the creation of what is indisputably the greatest dictionary in the language has become a p
"Delightful . . . [a] captivating and slyly subversive fictional paean to the real women whose work on the Oxford English Dictionary went largely unheralded."--The New York Times Book Review WINNER OF THE AUSTRALIAN BOOK INDUSTRY AWARD - "A marvelous fiction about the power of language to elevate or repress."--Geraldine Brooks, New York Times bestselling author of People of the Book Esme is born into a world of words. Motherless and irrepressibly curious, she spends her childhood in the Scriptorium, an Oxford garden shed in which her father and a team of dedicated lexicographers are collecting words for the very first Oxford English Dictionary. Young Esme's place is beneath the sorting table, unseen and unheard. One day a slip of paper containing the word bondmaid flutters beneath the table. She rescues the slip and, learning that the word means "slave girl," begins to collect other words that have been discarded or neglected by the dictionary men. As she grows up, Esme realizes that w
In 2007, when a new edition of the Oxford Junior Dictionary — widely used in schools around the world — was published, a sharp-eyed reader soon noticed that around forty common words concerning nature
dabberlick [noun, Scotland] A mildly insulting way of talking about someone who is tall and skinny. 'Where's that dabberlick of a child?'fubsy [adjective, Lancashire] Plump, in a nice sort of way.squi
dabberlick [noun, Scotland] A mildly insulting way of talking about someone who is tall and skinny. 'Where's that dabberlick of a child?'fubsy [adjective, Lancashire] Plump, in a nice sort of way.squi
The New Testament is a fascinating collection of documents that illuminate the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. It contains an amazing number of details in its texts that can easily be lost on
