About the Author

Pip Williams was born in London, grew up in Sydney and now calls the Adelaide Hills home. She is the author of the international number one bestseller, The Dictionary of Lost Words, described by The Times as 'an extraordinary, charming novel'. It was also a New York Times bestseller, a Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick and has been translated into over thirty languages to worldwide acclaim. Pip's second novel, The Bookbinder of Jericho, sprang from her discovery of archival footage of women who worked in the bindery of Oxford University Press during the early twentieth century. When she tried to find out more about them, there was almost nothing. Despite their important role in the production of books, barely a word has been written about them until now.

Reviews

A brilliant book about women and words - tender, moving and profound
*Jacqueline Wilson*

An extraordinary, charming novel... Williams pins a whole, rich life to the page
*The Times*

Poignant, perfectly paced... a beautifully nuanced work
*Mail on Sunday*

I absolutely loved this book! Thought-provoking, touching and subtly romantic; I finished it in tears
*Katie Fforde*

Williams's satisfying novel animates a fascinating history and imbues it with a feminist slant, asking how words mean different things to men and women
*Sunday Times*

This lovely slice of historical fiction... A highly enjoyable resonant tale about the hidden and frequently gendered stories behind the words we take for granted
*Metro*

A captivating and slyly subversive fictional paean to the real women whose work on the Oxford English Dictionary went largely unheralded
*New York Times Book Review*

A gorgeous, unique read
*Sun*

This immersive, scrupulously researched debut provides poignant commentary on the ownership of language
*Mail on Sunday*

An enchanting story about love, loss and the power of language, what gets recorded and what gets forgotten. Set at a time when women's voices were clamouring more than ever to be heard, it moved me greatly to think how history is skewed by those who hold power -- and how important it is that novels like this redress that balance
*Elizabeth Macneal, author or The Doll Factory*