Jun 10, 2011 ARCHIVES | Entertainment | COLUMNS Catherine E. McKinley
Bloomsbury
ISBN 978-1608195053
235 pages
$27
Reviewed by Sarah Halzack
Just as indigo dye leaves a deep, lasting stain on the fabric it touches, it has left a durable mark on the life of American author Catherine E. McKinley, who traveled across nine African countries to research its origins. "Indigo" is a memoir of her journey from bustling markets in Nigeria to camel rides in Niger to a funeral ceremony in Ghana.
McKinley pursued any lead to the pigment and the complex method of creating it. A Fulbright scholar, at first she hunted for indigo-dyed cloth for research, but soon she became obsessed with purchasing the finest examples for her own use. Fleeing an attempted military coup in the Ivory Coast, she refused to leave behind the cloths she had purchased, even though they weighed down her already heavy load. Ultimately, her fixation on indigo forced her to look inward. "Whose heritage was I collecting -- my own? That of my ancestors? ... I wondered about this intense passion in the midst of a violent, modern remaking of a nation."
McKinley sometimes makes her expertise too apparent; her descriptions of the dyeing process aren't always accessible to a reader unfamiliar with the topic. Still, her personal discoveries resonate, and her unique experiences provide a vivid snapshot of the cultures she encountered in Africa.
Sarah Halzack can be reached at halzacks(at symbol)washpost.com.
Copyright 2011 Washington Post Writers Group
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