The Dress Diary of Mrs Anne Sykes

The story of a singular woman... Kate Strasdin's forensic detective work has finally let Mrs Sykes - and her book - speak again

Judith Flanders, author of THE INVENTION OF MURDER

Teeming with history and detail - a fascinating exploration of how even the smallest scraps of fabric can open up large stories

Lynn Knight, author of THE BUTTON BOX

Intriguing and engaging... A fascinating and creative unravelling of Anne's life and times

Clare Hunter, author of THREADS OF LIFE

Demonstrates beautifully how clothing is woven into the fabric of our lives, our dreams and our histories.

Amber Butchart

An extraordinarily rich record of middle-class Victorian life, both at home and abroad... [a] fascinating book

Guardian

This is a wonderful book! The life of a woman, a time and an industry, woven, like cloth, into something unique and beguiling. A treat for the curious reader

Pip Williams, author of The Dictionary of Lost Words

'[A] questing and poignant social history'

Hephzibah Anderson, The Observer

Snippets of fabric, snippets of biographical detail, snippets of historical evidence - this is a book entirely made up of snippets and I found it irresistible

Ysenda Maxtone Graham, The Times

Strasdin's painstaking detective work has uncovered many of the fascinating insights behind the fabric swatches contained in this unusual collection

Sunday Times

For the imaginative reader, on closing the book, 'the silks still glisten from the paper'

Mail Plus

In this engaging book, Strasdin proves triumphantly that the study of fashion is not a frothy sideshow but can provide a textured account of history... [a] compelling account of 19th-century life seen through women's eyes

Daily Mirror

Strasdin's knowledge is evident in her descriptions of the fabrics displayed in this diary . . . This is too good to miss

Literary Review

Thanks to Strasdin's forensic research...this book opens into a vivid history of expansion and empire. And all wrapped up in 2,184 pieces of cloth

BBC History Magazine

An evocative and often touching exercise in re-imagining these fragments of fabric into historical life... it is delightful

Prospect

Strasdin...leads us on a fast-paced journey from industrial England to mercantile Singapore and Shanghai, describing global trade, politics and slavery, reminding us of the significant human cost of cotton production

Who Do You Think You Are?

Thrilling and beautiful

Sunday Times, *Books of the Year*