The Liar's Dictionary is a witty literary novel that unfolds in two intertwined timelines, linked by a love of language and the mischief hidden in its margins.
In Victorian London, lexicographer Peter Winceworth is tasked with compiling entries for the letter “S” in a monumental Encyclopedic Dictionary. Chafing under the constraints of his work and his life, he begins to slip fictitious words—mountweazels—into the text, tiny acts of rebellion disguised as scholarship.
A century later, Mallory, a young intern at the same publishing house, is assigned to track down these false entries before the dictionary is digitized. Her quiet archival project is complicated by a series of hostile, anonymous phone calls, sparked by outrage over a modern definition of “marriage.” As she hunts for invented words and faces very real threats, Mallory is forced to reckon with how language shapes identity, power and belonging.
Moving between past and present, the novel explores how words can be both precise and slippery, rigid and fragile, tools of control and sources of joy. It blends comedy, romance and workplace drama with a sharp, affectionate eye for dictionaries, editorial life and the eccentricities of people who care deeply about meaning.
Features
- Dual narrative set in Victorian and contemporary London
- Playful exploration of dictionaries, hoaxes and invented words
- Humorous, character-driven literary fiction
- Themes of language, identity, work and quiet rebellion
