An Indigo Summer

by Ellie Evelyn Orrell

'There is a certain feeling - standing between rows of richly dyed blue cloth - that you are within an enclave of protection, that within this ocean you can feel calm; a separation from the outside world.' One summer, a mother and daughter are reunited in the small village of Betws Gwerful Goch in North Wales following the death of a father and grandfather. Ellie returned from studying at university, while Jeanette had been studying the art of indigo dyeing in Japan. In this lyrical memoir, Ellie Evelyn Orrell transports readers to their hillside garden, reflecting on a summer spent learning to work with indigo, and witnessing the power of creativity in moments of mourning and recovery. In it, she weaves together stories of resettling in a once-familiar landscape; the healing powers of art; the historical, mythological and present day properties of indigo; and the presence of this indelible colour within the Welsh landscape. An Indigo Summer is an absorbing mediation on art, rural life and roots, grief, creativity and the artistic process.

Genres: Nonfiction

168 pages, Hardcover

Published October 6, 2022

Reviews

[Eleanor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely beautiful, a book that I truly think will stay with me for a long time.

[Katy Wheatley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the most beautiful book. My only criticism is that it was finished too soon.

Orrell takes a year out from her university studies to go back to her home in Wales and help her artist mother. Her mother goes to Japan to learn the art of indigo dyeing when she finds herself needing to process the death of her father. As a maker, she finds creating things a powerfully meditative and healing process. When she returns to Wales, she and Orrell spend the year learning how to use the dye and create art.

This is thoughtful, charming and just a wonderful, wonderful read.

[Nickie Holding · Rating 5 out of 5]

A simply beautiful read ...

[Kellaura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. Hopeful. Engaging.

[Hannah Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very calm, reading this was a bit like being told about all the small details of someone’s day over a cup of tea.

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book that creates space for the reader to reflect on life, grief, and the daily processes that help us through

This, my second time reading “An Indigo Summer”, was as moving as it was my first read through. Full of growing, reflecting, remembering, and creating - what’s written is uniquely personal but often gave me a pathway to walk through my own memories thinking of the people in my life I can only access through memory now

With indigo artworks throughout, the author has shared a beautifully sincere story that expertly ties together looking back and remembering and the day to day of moving forward and the feelings born from those two times meeting in our lives

I know I’ll read it again and again…drawn to pick up and reread what’s offered within

5/5 moving, colorful, expressive, emotive, and artistic

[Holly Pearson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful book, weaving in history, nature and culture seamlessly into a gentle and loving patchwork of stories. Evelyn’s writing and prose is breathtaking and I can’t wait to read more of her work

[Evangelina Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

The most beautiful start to a new year reading this book. A thoughtful, grounding and beautifully written book which makes you appreciate your surroundings and relationships.

It made me stop and look up. Something we should all do more of in life.

[Tom O · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favourite book I have read this year. Wonderful!

[Jason Spencer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really, really gorgeous read

[Lara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my end of summer read and I greatly enjoyed its introspective mood, and a glimpse into a life in a place so different from my own, but with similar sensibilities and appreciation of art and nature.

[Naomi J · Rating 3 out of 5]

“On these walks she encouraged me to engage with the landscape, not to merely walk through it but to notice slight changes each day: the freshly trampled threshold of a badger sett, the river height fluctuating with bouts of rain or drought, the abundance of pheasants in the autumn and tadpoles in the spring. In calm weather you could hear the life of the forest: the quiet scurrying of feet or the rustle of wings. Other times, the wind was so fierce we had to brace ourselves against it, walking in silence with scarves wrapped over our ears, wordlessly taking note of things we noticed along the way.
Perhaps the loss of her father impacted me more deeply because of this closeness that it would have done had our relationship been more distant. I felt completely unravelled by his death, not only for my own sense of loss but for the profound way I also felt hers. Now, as I watch her dyeing with indigo and witness her focus return after eighteen months I’d searching for inspiration to work, I share the same sense of being uplifted.”

A mediation on grief, rural living, family relationships and the healing power of Art, creativity and nature, as student, Ellie Evelyn Orrell, returns to her very rural family home in North Wales from university for the summer. Her mother, an artist, has recently returned from a trip to Japan where she has been studying Indigo and mother and daughter spend the summer dyeing fabric indigo together and adjusting to life following the death of Ellie’s grandfather, her mother’s father

A calm book of healing and nature which celebrates creativity, rural living and the artistic temperament.