The Liar’s Dictionary: A Novel

A shy, lisping lexicographer in the 19th century falls hopelessly in love. A closeted intern in the 21st century is tasked with ferreting out “mountweazels”: false words that her predecessor may have created and inserted into the dictionary. Peter Winceworth grapples with pelicans and the humiliating secret that his lisp is a feint, designed to keep others at bay. Mallory must contend with anonymous phone calls threatening that the dictionary staff (all two of them) will burn in hell for having expanded the definition of “marriage” to accommodate all gender partnerships.

The Liar’s Dictionary is a novel for lovers of language, full of puns and wordplay and words you will have never heard of, which will send you to the dictionary to discover for yourself whether the author has made them up or not. Her vocabulary dazzles, her syntax seduces, and the plot—alphabetized and alternating between the two time periods—will carry you along throughout this delightful, unexpected book. Highly recommended.