Red

Red hair, the rarest of the hair colors, carries with it a host of preconceived assumptions and ideas about the bearer's personality. This is a topic near and dear to author Jacky Colliss Harvey, a redhead herself, so it's fitting that she narrates her in-depth exploration of the history and biology of redheads throughout the world. Harvey has a pleasant British accent with clear diction and a knack for tonal variation. She recounts her personal experiences with "gingerism," prejudice against redheads, in her homeland of Great Britain, where preconceptions about redheads seem to be particularly strong. She relates fascinating historical and scientific tidbits, culminating in an account of her experience in the Netherlands at a redhead festival, where, for once, redheads were the majority rather than the minority. S.E.G. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine

May 15, 2015

Harvey, whose experiences as a ginger add a personal touch to her findings, traces the cultural, scientific, and sociological journey of the redhead through the centuries and around the world. Offering examples from literature, art, politics, and religion that range from the traditional--Mary Magdalene and Elizabeth I--to the contemporary--Lucille Ball (who was famously not born a redhead) and the television show South Park's "Kick a Ginger Day" episode--she presents the prevailing stereotypes about redheads and theorizes their origins. Why are the women so often thought of as fiery vixens and the men as feminine and unattractive? Harvey describes the push back as well, citing Thomas Knights' REDHOT 100 exhibit, a photographic campaign to rebrand the view of the redheaded man. While the narrative can sometimes raise more questions than it provides concrete answers for, the speculation is eye opening. VERDICT With a plethora of individual anecdotes and presented research, first-time author Harvey brings to light the unique history and current perceptions of redheads everywhere.--Kate DiGirolomo, Library Journal

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2015
According to Grant McCracken, author of Big Hair: A Journey into the Transformation of Self (1995), The study of hair does not take you to the superficial edges of our society . . . . It takes you, instead, to the center of things. In Red, Harvey drills down to that center to find a mother lode of lore and more about the hair color found in just 2 percent of the world's population. Beginning with our earliest ancestors and continuing down through the ages, this witty, wide-ranging study examines red hair through the lenses of art, literature, science, sexuality, culture, religion, and politics. Fascinating facts abound. For example, we learn that the gene for red hair did not originate in Ireland or Scotland, as we might expect, but in the people who migrated from Africa to the grasslands of central Asia and, eventually, into Europe. Old wives' tales, scientific discoveries, historical accounts, fads in fashion, and trends in the arts are mined to great effect, resulting in a comprehensive and thoroughly enjoyable narrative embellished with stunning illustrations and photographs.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)