Raised motherless by her father, Esme Nicholls grows up in the making of the original Oxford English Dictionary. She forms deep friendships and becomes very devoted to the English language. So much so that she feels inspired enough to write her own dictionary of 'lost' words. She felt more people needed to have their voices heard. She gave others a means of democracy and they got their say. One of the ways, she did this was through the dictionary of lost words.