Fabric : The Hidden History of the Material World

Subtle, compendious and rich’ – James McConnachie, The Sunday Times’Dazzling … Finlay’s adventures, vividly recounted, make enthralling reading … This book is equally an inspiration and an education’ – Bel Mooney, Daily Mail’A gorgeous adventure through the history of cloth’ – StylistThe Sunday Times best paperbacks of 2022Bestselling author Victoria Finlay spins us round the globe in a vibrant exploration of cloth through the ages.

She beats the inner bark of trees into cloth in Papua New Guinea, fails to handspin cotton in Guatemala, visits tweed weavers at their homes in Harris, and has lessons in patchwork-making in Gee’s Bend, Alabama. And through it all she uncovers the hidden histories of fabric: how and why people have made it, worn it, invented it and made symbols of itInterlaced with Victoria’s own story of grief and recovery, Fabric is a lush patchwork of travel, history, memoir and culture – an unforgettable look into how we have made fabric, and how it has made us.