Review of Cloth

[Ebi Robert]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Cloth" by Elizabeth Anderson.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Cloth by Elizabeth Anderson (a fateful compromise with the cotton trade), is a book that takes its readers to the realm of a well-researched historical literature. Centered particularly on the industrial era, the book tells the story of the family of one John Grant, the son of Alexander Grant, who was a teacher for SSPCK, known as the Scottish Society for Propagation of Christian Knowledge, in full. John Grant was born in 1769 to his father and his mother, Christian McKenzie, in Rosskeen parish, and was exposed to the cloth business at age ten, given to apprenticeship in Inverness. Grown to adulthood, John, in search of new market, migrated to the United States where he continued his cloth business. As a hardworking father, he tried his best to give his children the best of life, but his effort was faced with challenges that mightily raised their unavoidable hands – competitions, the effect of capitalism at the time, some somewhat draconian laws were some of the contributory factors. Alas, John closed his cloth business in April 1818, which was advertised in Poulson’s Adviser, and afterward set forth to sail to Philadelphia. The story continued with the experiences of Mary, Alexander, Hectorina, etc (children of John Grant) and ended with quite a refreshing note of the generation of John’s offspring, thus summing up the story as a three-generation detail of the Scottish family tree in context.

The beautiful narration and jaw-dropping flow of the novel is made possible by the unique style adopted by Elizabeth. Most parts of the events are revealed from letters written by characters in the novel and these give the work the much needed originality. Though the writer’s diction is rich, it is very much simplified for readers to understand and appreciate. It doesn’t contain adult words which may warrant the use of (*) to reduce their weight. Summarily, for ‘outline’ the novel contains an introduction, conclusion, acknowledgements, notes; and then, a total of thirteen (13) chapters. It also contains seven (7) illustrations which help readers to know what some of the scenes and characters represent or look like.

However, despite the beautiful flow of every chapter, events seem to happen so fast and this may take the readers by surprise. The brevity of each event and appearances of characters are no more than a proof that the writer relies on primary accounts; thus, the novel is nothing near a faction.

For me, I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. This is because the work is classic, well-researched with citations that can be easily verified. Apart from that, the narration is apposite, carrying a touch of the mastery of words, concord adherence, and sound flow. Although there are a few errors in the book, they are not so much to reduce the quality of the work to score it less than 3 out of four stars.

Cloth is indeed an interesting piece. While the book carries the features of a prose, it serves as a solid historical piece. This book is highly recommended for historians, and researchers, particularly, those who are interested in getting a first-hand account of happenings in the 19th industry about the textile industry in Britain.

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Cloth
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[markodim721]

It is great that the book is based on well-researched historical literature. Thanks for the good review.

[J Edwards]

I like historical literature books especially when they tell a fictional story. It is an added advantage that this book is well-researched and also written we'll. Thanks for this great review.

[Ebi Robert]

Thanks all for the wonderful comments. Indeed it is a historical literature worth the read. You can take a look at the book and confirm for yourself what the reviewer has said.

[Nino Chinonso Onwurah]

This book opens our eyes to what the 18th and 19th centuries looked like. History has a lot to teach us. I love your brilliant summary in the first paragraph.