Review

"[McKinley] introduces the reader to a wide cast of characters who slip in and out of the narrative unobtrusively."--"Kirkus Reviews

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"The sections in which [McKinley] focuses on the history of indigo are fascinating, and some of her vivid descriptions shimmer with an almost cinematic quality." --Ingrid Levin, "Library Journal"

"Call it blue gold, the devil's dye, or the cloth of history; indigo is the color that launched the ships and caravans of worldwide commerce. It encompasses the slave trade, the factories of European industry, and the woman-dominated markets of Africa. It binds the blue sails of Columbus's ships to denim jeans and the exquisite hand-woven fabrics collectors crave. Catherine McKinley follows her passion, her 'insatiable, desire' for this beauty and history to Africa. There she enters a complex world--ancient, post-modern, stable and volatile. It demands that she be student, adventurer, aesthete and journalist: she meets these demands with restless inte

"Gorgeously recounts McKinley's journey to West Africa's teeming markets and churning factories, through funerals and uprisings, to find 'the bluest of the blues'"--"Los Angeles Times

""[McKinley's] discoveries resonate, and her unique experiences provide a vivid snapshot of the cultures she encountered in Africa."--"Washington Post

""An eye-opening account of the controversial role this gorgeous, coveted pigment has played through the millennia."--"Elle"

About the Author

Catherine E. McKinley is the author of "The Book of Sarahs." She is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College, where she has taught creative nonfiction, and a former Fulbright Scholar in Ghana, West Africa. She lives in New York City.