Interested in learning more about histories, narratives, and personal experiences connected to textiles and fiber-based objects and their makers? Join a Textile Center Book Club!

All are welcome. This program is free, but space is limited, so registration is required.

UPCOMING BOOK CLUBS

Book Club: A Perfect Red: Empire, Espionage and the Quest for the Color of Desire

“A Perfect Red: Empire, Espionage and the Quest for the Color of Desire“ by Amy Butler Greenfield

5 Wednesday meet-ups, from 11 am – 12 pm
in the Textile Center Library

May 6: Prologue, Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4
May 20: Chapters 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
June 3: Chapters 10, 11, 12, 13, 14
June 17: Chapters 15, 16, 17, 18, Epilogue

About the book:

Interweaving mystery, empire, and adventure, Amy Butler Greenfield’s masterful popular history offers a window onto a world far different from our own: a world in which the color red was rare and precious—a source of wealth and power for those who could unlock its secrets. And in this world nothing was more prized than cochineal, a red dye that produced the brightest, strongest red the Old World had ever seen.

A Perfect Red recounts the story of this legendary red dye, from its cultivation by the ancient Mexicans and discovery by 16th-century Spanish conquistadors to the European pirates, explorers, alchemists, scientists, and spies who joined in the chase to unlock its secrets, a chase that lasted more than three centuries. It evokes with style and verve this history of a grand obsession, of intrigue, empire, and adventure in pursuit of the most desirable color on earth.

About the author:

Amy Butler Greenfield was a history graduate student when she gave into temptation and became a writer. Since then, she’s become an award-winning author.

Amy grew up in the Adirondack Mountains and later studied history at Williams College, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Oxford. Among other honors, her books have won the PEN/Albrand Award, a Beacon of Freedom Award, and the Prix du Livre Environnement. Her first mystery was a finalist for an Edgar Award.

Amy lives with her family in England, where she writes, plots mischief, and bakes double-dark-chocolate cake.

You can find her at www.amybutlergreenfield.com.