The liar's dictionary : a novel / Eley Williams.

Author/creator Williams, Eley author.
Format Book
EditionFirst United States edition.
PublicationNew York : Doubleday, [2020]
Description270 pages ; 22 cm
Subjects
Lexicographers--Fiction.
Encyclopedias and dictionaries--Fiction.
Truthfulness and falsehood--Fiction.
English language--Etymology. --Fiction.
Unrequited love--Fiction.
Coming out (Sexual orientation)--Fiction.
Creation (Literary, artistic, etc.)--Fiction.
Threats of violence--Fiction.
Great Britain--History. --Victoria, 1837-1901. --Fiction.

Abstract "Peter Winceworth, a disaffected Victorian lexicographer, inserts false entries into a dictionary - violating and subverting the dictionary's authority - in an attempt to assert some sense of individual purpose and artistic freedom. In the present day, Mallory, a young overworked and underpaid intern employed by the dictionary's publishing house, is tasked with uncovering these entries before the work is digitised. As the novel progresses and their narratives combine, as Winceworth imagines who will find his fictional words in an unknown future and Mallory discovers more about the anonymous lexicographer's life through the clues left in his fictitious entries, both discover how they might negotiate the complexities of an absurd, relentless, untrustworthy, hoax-strewn, undefinable life.Braiding together contemporary and historical narratives, the novel explores themes of trust, agency and creativity, celebrating the rigidity, fragility and absurdity of language."--Provided by publisher.
Issued in other formOnline version: Williams, Eley, The liar's dictionary New York : Doubleday, 2021. 9780385546782
Genre/formFiction.
Genre/formHistorical fiction.
Genre/formHistory.
Genre/formRomance fiction.
Genre/formHistorical fiction.
Genre/formRomance fiction.
LCCN 2020013022
ISBN9780385546775
ISBN0385546777
ISBN9780593311868 paperback
ISBN0593311868 paperback
ISBN9781785152047 hardcover
ISBN1785152041 hardcover
ISBNelectronic book