I was not the right reader for this book. I'm sure others have loved it. Just not the book for me. ..........

The Liar’s Dictionary sounded like a fun read, and my thanks go to Net Galley and Doubleday for the review copy. In the end, though there are some lovely moments, the execution doesn’t live up to its promise.

This book has been in my collection of review copies for a year now, and every now and then, I’ve told myself to get with it, set aside other galleys and take care of this one. But so help me, the beginning is dry and interminable, and I found that rather than read this novel, I’d rather not read at all. Finally, I ferreted out a copy of the audio book, and when I was able to do other things with my hands, I was able to get through it, although there were still a couple of times that my mind wandered, and I had to either run it back, or dive back into the digital review copy in order to acclimate myself.

The story alternates between two protagonists in two different settings, one the present, the other the past. In Victorian London, Peter Winceworth, an alienated, abused employee, deliberately invents words to add to the dictionary to which he has been assigned. He has no personal life to speak of, and although he manufactured a lisp purely for his own amusement, his boss is so nasty to him that he can’t shake the lisp in his presence. He falls for the boss’s fiancée, but it doesn’t go well, and hence he must wreck revenge.

In the present time, Mallory is tasked with finding and eliminating the invented words. Mallory is an easier character to bond with, but neither Mallory or Peter sees a great deal of development. There are a handful of very funny moments in the mid-section of the novel, and there’s one brilliant death match between Winceworth and a homicidal pelican. Beyond that, I didn’t find much joy.

This book is for sale now if you want it, but my advice is to get it free or cheap unless your pockets are deep and you’ve got no other way to empty them.

I did not care for this book, but to be honest did not finish it. I was still debating over whether the main character was male or female.

I don't think I appreciated this novel as much I should, but I also know A LOT of people that will, making this an easy title to recommend through reader's advisory. Additionally, I did enjoy the dual narrative, the humor and quirkiness of the novel, the mystery, and I did learn an unfathomable amount about words and wordplay creating an enjoyable reading experience overall. Certainly worthy of a purchase for adult library collections and an excellent gift for your favorite word and lexicon enthusiast.

I'm excited to receive ila free e-arc of this title in exchange for a review. This is a great book for any lover of words. The dry humor and sarcastic drew me in. I did have to reread a few passages because it's wordy, but you soon get the hang of it. Excited to continue.

Dictionaries tend to be utilitarian, unglamorous things—pulled off of a shelf when needed, but otherwise gathering dust, especially as readers turn to digital resources. But in the preface of her debut novel, The Liar’s Dictionary, Eley Williams shrugs off that drab image, inviting readers through her spry language to imagine their own perfect dictionary and all the tangibles and intangibles it would possess. The structure of the book even mimics a dictionary, with a chapter for every letter of the alphabet, beginning with “A” for “artful” and “Z” for the tongue-twisting “zugzwang.”

This invitation to see dictionaries as playgrounds and words as chewing gum sets a jovial yet cerebral tone that suits the stories of the two main characters, doubles living a century apart. In the modern day, Mallory is an intern at the struggling Swansby House, publisher of an encyclopedic dictionary known not for prestige, but, as one character notes, “for not being finished. Having mistakes and being a bit eccentric.” As it turns out, the dictionary contains even more errors than the public may realize. During the digitization process, the head of Swansby discovers, to his horror, that there are an unknown number of fake entries—or mountweazels, normally intended to catch plagiarists in the act—that are not supposed to be there. It’s Mallory’s job to weed out these bogus words.

She doesn’t know which former employee is the culprit, but we do. Peter Winceworth worked for Swansby House back in 1899, and we meet him shortly before he gets the idea to make up words for the dictionary—or rather, just before he’s reached his breaking point. Winceworth isn’t popular in the office; he’s largely ignored and when he is heard, he’s teased for his lisp, especially as his work for the dictionary strands him in the “S” section. Readers might feel bad for him if he didn’t admit that his lisp, like his made-up words, isn’t real.

Not even Winceworth himself knows why he affects the lisp, though he suspects it’s out of laziness. As we get to know him, however, it seems likely he’s hiding behind it. Winceworth is a sensitive man, prickling at the slightest hint of mockery at his expense; perhaps he wants to deflect deeper attacks, or uses the lisp as an excuse not to open up.

Winceworth and Mallory have a lot more in common than an employer. Mallory, too, is not entirely comfortable sharing who she is with the world, but this is because she’s still figuring out who she is. When she starts working at Swansby’s, “one of the first words I looked up,” Mallory tells us, is “queer.” She may live with her girlfriend, but Mallory doesn’t feel comfortable discussing her sexuality or making it known. For two people who work with words all day long, Peter and Mallory leave a great many things unsaid.

Solidifying the idea that these are two characters caged and held back from expressing themselves is a substantial amount of avian imagery. This is hinted at by the American cover, which shows a peacock fanning out book pages in place of colorful plumage. At one point in Liar’s Dictionary, a choking pelican is saved by an emergency surgery with a pen instead of a scalpel. An introductory scene, during which Mallory is sitting in the aptly named Swansby’s offices, shows her unable to immediately respond to her boss, as she’s busy chewing an entire hard-boiled egg. Mallory’s girlfriend Pip also has a bird-inspired name, the two discover while turning the detective slog through the dictionary into their private jaunt: pip means “to crack (most likely the shell of the egg) when hatching.”

For both Winceworth and Mallory, love is a motivating force to break free of the constraints, real or imaginary, holding them back. But after seeing them bottled up for so long, readers can expect some explosive moments in each storyline before Mallory and Peter can truly move forward.

The inclusion of a blurb from Andrew Sean Greer on the American cover of The Liar’s Dictionary was apropos: the debut is highly reminiscent of Greer’s Pulitzer Prize–winning Less in its focus on character development and its insistence on a fun reading experience. Williams’s first novel may be guilty of being wordy, but for word nerds, the label might as well be a badge of honor. Williams seems to be speaking through Mallory when she writes, “simply put is impossible, and not the way for me.” The Liar’s Dictionary is a terrific reminder of just how fun words can be, and how powerful they become in showing the world—and reminding ourselves—precisely who we are.

Thank you to Doubleday Books and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

This book I gave 4 stars. I loved it, but and I loved the idea of it. And it's funny. Years ago, when Peter Winceworth was putting together a dictionary, he stuck some words in, left some words out, and even changed around definitions. The word for him doing this was mountwheazel I think.

Now years laer, Mallory has to go through the whole dictionary and fix words, take words out that are completely fabricated. This book is so humorous, I laughed out loud a few times. Words are a funny thing.

Mallory is also getting threatening phone calls that increase. Why is somebody so mad about this dictionary, that they are calling with terrible threats of words are changed. Intriguing, funny and unique. 4 stars!

Bravo to author Eley Williams.

I just couldn't get into this. Eley Williams has a true gift for language but I'll be damned if I could understand what story she was trying to tell. I suspect this is going to be one of those books that either dazzles or drives a reader crazy. There's a certain snobbishness here that I found profoundly unpleasant. An overwhelming sense that if you too are not totally into dictionaries and the amazing words that populate them you're just not very smart are you?

Honestly this bored me to tears.

Rating: 3.5

Love letter to the English language and to those who love word play. If you've thought more than once, "There should be a word for..." then this book is for you.

I was so excited to read this book as the prepub materials made it sound so interesting and quite a change of pace. Unfortunately, I felt like it didn't live up to the hype. The word play was fresh, but not quite enough to make up for the lesser developed plot. Dual timeline was handled deftly, with clear plot lines that touched, but not crossed, and interesting, well-drawn characters. I felt like the plots just started to get interesting when the story just blew up. I would have loved another 100+ pages to come to a better conclusion.


Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Composed of 26 chapters, each titled with an entry to match the progression of the alphabet [A is for artful (adj.), B is for bluff (v.), etc.] The Liar's Dictionary was absolutely jam packed with lexicographical details, linguistic analyses, and etymologies (both real and imagined.) The two timelines were each wonderfully unique and full of intellectual humor--as well as humorous situations. For example, after a night out, one of the protagonists arrives at his speech therapist's office with birthday cake in his pocket. This book was a joy for me to read but definitely not something that general fiction readers will probably be drawn to. I would recommend this more specifically to my fellow "word nerds" and readers of Oscar Wilde.

The premise of this title is wonderful. What if someone inserted words that did not exist, but arguably should, into a dictionary? And what if someone else, someone living in another century, had to figure out which words were not valid? The Liar's Dictionary by Eley Williams deals with both of these scenarios in a charming and funny book. It was a good read, even though the tone of the ending wasn't quite consistent with the tone of the rest of the book. Recommended for people who are fascinated with words, dictionaries and language in general.

I really wanted to love this book. A novel entirely about words (and mountweazels) sounded right up my geeky alley. But the further I got into it, the more distance I felt from the stories (two narratives, as the story flipped back and forth). The pages overflowed with unnecessary vocabulary lists, and this bogged down the plot. I’m very sorry that I didn’t like it more. ~ Elizabeth / Literary Hoarders

Unwillingly at first, I fell in love with the characters in this novel and their absurd and wordy antics. The dry humor brought to mind Douglas Adams. A fun and leisurely read.

This was such a fun and engaging book! The beginning was a little slow for me - a lot of word play that I skimmed over a bit. But once we got into the stories of Winceworth and Mallory I was hooked!

A fun book with LOTS of interesting words. An intriguing read sure to interest many readers , genre like no other!

I usually like a split timeline but this left me feeling like I didn’t get enough time with characters in either period. Overall it left me feeling flat and anxious to move on to the next book.

I loved the challenge of the wordplay, and the structure of the overall book - the 26 chapter titles being both dictionary entries and hints at the contents. A fun and quick read!

I love words.

The English language is a rich tapestry, one filled with weird lexicography and etymological dead ends. There are just so many words, with more coming into being every day. And of course, the reference of choice for any lexophile worth their salt is the dictionary.

But what if you found out that you couldn’t trust it?

In “The Liar’s Dictionary,” the debut novel by Eley Williams, we find out. Unfolding in two distinct storylines – one past, one present – the book explores what it means to trust wholly in something that ultimately proves unreliable, either through one’s own actions or the actions of another. It is also a celebration of language and the people who devote their lives to studying and recording its many iterations.

All that and it’s wildly funny as well. Plus, you might learn something. For instance, did you know this word?

Mountweazel (n): the phenomenon of false entries within dictionaries and books of reference. Often used as a safeguard against copyright infringement.

I’d never heard it before, but it plays a vital role in the action of this delightful book.

In the Victorian era, Peter Winceworth is a lexicographer working as part of the team assembling the Swansby’s Encylopaedic Dictionary. He’s an odd sort, viewed by his peers with a combination of contempt and bemusement. Rather than voice his own disdain in return, he retreats into his work, taking advantage of his position by inserting made-up words – often based on his co-workers and his feelings toward them – into the in-process reference.

In the present day, a young woman named Mallory is the sole remaining employee of the once-mighty Swansby’s empire. Still technically an intern, she has been tasked with digitizing the notoriously incomplete dictionary. She’s also the one answering the phones every time the same anonymous caller calls to issue threats. It’s not a great job, but it’s one for which Mallory has an odd sort of affection.

Back and forth we go between the two narratives. We watch as Winceworth finds himself increasingly embroiled in a not-quite-rivalry with one of his more boisterous co-workers, even as he continues to introduce his false words into the dictionary. Meanwhile, Mallory’s boss discovers that his family’s dictionary is riddled with those same falsities and tasks Mallory with weeding them all out via cross-referencing the ancient Swansby files.

Both Winceworth and Mallory are looking for something that they can’t quite articulate, something beyond their current lot. And their paths are strewn with the various and sundry ups and downs of life, leaving them to find ways to navigate both the ridiculous and the sublime – sometimes at the same time.

Too often, a book that uses multiple perspectives lends too much weight to one narrative thread at the expense of others. The danger here, with stories that take place in different time periods, is that the past is the active and the present is the reactive. “A Liar’s Dictionary” finds the balance, giving equal heft to its paired storylines. The journeys of Peter and Mallory are treated equitably, allowing each story to grow.

What’s great here is that I would have happily read either of these stories on its own; each is more than rich enough to carry that narrative weight. Both would have been a lovely individual read, but the impact of the juxtaposition of the two elevates the overall experience. The back-and-forth between the two tales could have been jarring, but instead, we get a smooth experience, sliding easily from present to past and back again with seemingly little effort.

Now, there’s a risk that comes with writing a book driven by this subject matter. When words are the focus of the narrative, one can’t help but take note of the relative quality of the writing used to tell the story. Williams proves up to the challenge, however, displaying an exceptional level prosaic craftsmanship. Of course, while this is her debut novel, Williams has already established herself as a rising star in the world of short fiction, so her gift for descriptions both vivid and compact comes as no surprise.

(Maybe the coolest part of it all is the fact that the entire book is built on the foundation of that single word: mountweazel. I’d be grateful to Williams just for introducing it into my vocabulary, leaving aside the book itself. Of course, the fact that the book is excellent is so much the better.)

“A Liar’s Dictionary” was the first book with a 2021 publication date that I read this year. I can only hope that it is indicative of the quality of work that I will experience going forward, because it is sharply smart, dryly funny and wonderfully written. If you love words and the mysteries behind them, then you’ll likely enjoy this book as much as I did.

I can't lie about this - I could not finish this book. I got way too held up on the introduction. Then, as if that wasn't a struggle enough to understand, I couldn't seem to get rid of that sour taste in my mouth that the intro had left. I enjoy books in which I have the opportunity to expand my vocabulary. In fact, I used to read the dictionary in middle school. Partially because I wanted to look elite and intellectual, partially because I was genuinely interested in discovering new words. However, I ran into an issue where I was constantly trying to look up the meaning of the words to the point that, when I returned to the storyline, I had completely forgotten what was even being said.

This is, by no means, a leisurely read. I also do not recommend this as a "nightstand" read. This is the type of book where you need to be sitting down with a notepad and pen, and a dictionary, so that you can translate everything into layman terms. After you do that, you can process the information that is written down along with the story and understand what is being said. Otherwise, you will be completely lost.

For that reason, and that reason alone, I feel like this book could have done better in one of two ways. It could have, one, spread out the terms that may require the reader to look them up, or, two, given enough context clues to help the reader to understand the meaning of the word or words. Otherwise, the reader is going to miss the brilliance of the story. Which, it is - brilliant that is. But the introduction is going to scare away readers before they can even enjoy the story that is willing and ready to be told.

It is this issue that makes this book a non-recommended read for me. I cannot, in good conscience, tell someone, "this is a fantastic read," and expect them to have the patience to sit down and look up the meaning of so many of the words within.

This fun story flips back and forth between to main characters - Winceworth, a wandering Victorian lexicographer, and Mallory, the modern-day dictionary intern who discovers Winceworth's rebellious act. Chapter titles are all given dictionary words and proceed alphabetically. The ereader's built-in dictionary was useful to help pull back some of the fun of the titles, as well as the rest of the prodigious vocabulary used. The relationships each character is tasked with navigating are uniquely fun and lend much of the charm to the story. The story's challenge of truth and the reliability of words and sources, feels appropriate at this moment; as does its reflection on leaving a mark and finding one's path and value.
All in all, an enjoyable read with enough to ponder after the last word is read without being overbearing.