Book Review: Dreams of Amarna, by Rachel Mary Wright

Unusually amongst books that get reviewed on this blog, Dreams of Amarna is not a maths book. Of course, it's difficult to see anything as entirely 'not-maths', but this 170-odd page, full-colour, hardback tale of embroidery is about as far outside my usual comfort-zone as it's possible to get.

Book cover: Dreams of Amarna, by Rachel Mary Wright

It's a record of my friend Rachel's creative journey surrounding her exploration of the themes presented in another book, by writer and archaeologist Mary Chubb who, in 1930, was a member of a team excavating the site of Tell el Amarna (formerly Akhetaten) in Egypt. The Book written by Chubb which detailed her experiences on this dig (and which Dreams of Amarna has prompted me to put on my reading list) was called Nefertiti Lived Here. Maybe that will be the second not-maths book reviewed here?

But back to Dreams of Amarna for now: Unique amongst the friends I have made at MathsJam, Rachel is primarily an artist, and it's safe to say that were we not friends the chances of this book ending up on my bookshelf are slim: the theme of needlework is as unlikely to trip any switches in my brain whilst browsing a bookshop as 'mathematics' is for most of the people I know who work in the arts and cultural sector. But this is a key reason to get to know people outside of our little interest bubbles, right?

But in Dreams of Amarna, despite the subject matter being far removed from my usual fayre, I have seen much that is surprisingly familiar. Early on, Rachel describes choosing between different types of both thread and stitch, aiming for those that supported the telling of the tale she needed to tell when interpreting one of Chubb's maps. Her thought process resonated loudly with my own experiences of decision-making when trying to present information graphically. And this isn't even a metaphor or analogy: Rachel's stitched map is, explicitly, a work of data visualisation. Later, she describes getting stuck in her creative process, and the steps she lists to help free herself are uncannily similar to those I've taken myself when many a mathematical quagmire has threatened to claim my shoes.

There is occasional terminology that was unfamiliar to me, and more than a few words that I had never encountered before. It occurred to me at these points that I must be experiencing something similar to someone delving into the pages of a pop-maths book when such things aren't their usual choice. Reading Dreams of Amarna has taken me much longer than anticipated from the size of the book purely due to regularly wandering off to investigate new (to me) words, phrases and concepts that have each expanded my tiny world a little further. Throughout this book I have, on multiple occasions, muttered to myself 'you can do that with stitching‽'

I fully recommend going off-piste with your reading material now and then. Learning about something that you didn't even know you wanted to learn about can be exciting, and you may see more parallels with things that you might consider more 'your thing' than you anticipate: if books about the arts are your usual thing, why not try picking something off the popular maths shelves for once?

Information about Rachel's fascinating project (including some images, details of talks, and planning towards an exhibition that I hope I will one day be able to visit) can be found at dreamsofamarna.co.uk.

Dreams of Amarna can be purchased online at mymagazinesub.co.uk/embroidery/merchandise/details/dreams-of-amarna