Deeper than Indigo, by Jenny Balfour-Paul - book review: When two lives collide

In 1999 a librarian noticed a hand-written diary at the British Library, open at a page with an amusing watercolour sketch, entitled “Indigo planters after tiffin.” He mentioned it to Jenny Balfour-Paul, an indigo expert. Her resulting quest to follow the life of Thomas Machell, the writer (and painter) of that journal, has resulted in this extraordinary book.