Red Thread

Charlotte Higgins's Red Thread is a masterwork, an open-eyed analysis of the everyday mazery we face without even realising it, and an understanding of psychic and narrative architecture that's a pretty crucial piece of equipment for wherever and whenever we find ourselves lost. I read it on the balcony of a hotel in Rome... and it was as if the city itself opened playfully and thoughtfully around the reading experience in its amalgam of pasts and presents, histories and mysteries. Any bookshelf would be graced by the presence of [Red Thread]... [it] ask[s] readers to surrender to the unpredictable pleasures of getting lost... playful and gorgeously written. -- Robert Douglas-Fairhurst * Guardian * A serious, substantial, scholarly and yet also highly personal book about mazes... Red Thread is a book to admire as much as to enjoy. -- Ian Sansom * Spectator * [Charlotte Higgins] is no ordinary author. Her thrillingly original book - it really is like no other - is itself a sort of maze of facts and thoughts, ancient tales and modern phenomena... on every page there is a sparkling idea or a fascinating piece of information. It is also beautifully written... a beautifully produced volume, full of colour illustrations of sculptures and paintings and tantalising maps of mazes. -- Craig Brown * Mail on Sunday * In this beautifully produced and richly illustrated book... Charlotte Higgins takes us on a fascinating meander through the art and literature of the last 2,500 years... After reading this book you will see labyrinths everywhere. -- Michael O'Loughlin * Irish Times *