An Indigo Summer

Artist Orrell debuts with a lyrical and moving account of the summer she and her mother spent grieving her maternal grandfather. After her grandfather died, Orrell returned to her native Wales from university in Scotland to link up with her mother, who shared the painstaking indigo dyeing techniques she’d learned in Japan, intending it as a framework for and respite from their shared grief. “I can’t imagine that I will ever lose a sense of wonder on seeing this entirely magical transformation,” Orrell writes of watching the indigo oxidize and stain fabrics blue. The author’s return to Wales also prompted reflection about the relationship between the landscape of her childhood and those who live there: “I think about how children at school were referred to under their farm names in place of family names.” Both an insightful meditation on homecoming and a testament to art’s healing properties—complete with occasional sketches and photographs— Orrell’s dazzling debut is as rich as indigo itself. Fans of Krista Tippett and Katherine May will be enthralled. (July)