Synopsis:  Living under the tyrannical rule of the Protectorate, the Finches, an extended family of gypsies, are flung in jail with only three weeks to live. Two young cousins, Emilia and Luka, manage to escape. They find themselves entrusted with the task of recovering the five lucky charms that, once united, it's hoped will restore the Finch family's good luck...

Review: The Gypsy Crown is set in 17th century England, at the time of Oliver Cromwell’s final year as Lord Protector, and mixes historical fact and gypsy myth and magic. The Finch family are preparing for the marriage of the eldest daughter when a day performing at the local fair culminates in their being wrongly jailed by the vindictive Pastor Spurgeon. Although Emilia and Luka escape, their subsequent search for the family’s charms is made more difficult not only by their having with them a dancing bear and a monkey, but by the relentless pursuit undertaken by the thief taker Coldham who is determined to recapture the children.

Kate Forsyth provides a vivid, view of the aftermath of the English Civil War, in which the cruelties of the Roundhead side are emphasized, and the excesses of the Royalists viewed with greater understanding. She clearly depicts what we would think of as the inhumanity of the age, and sets the action on what is now the Surrey/London border, an area which was then rural.

 Emilia is the major protagonist in the story, and it is evidently through the clairvoyant and magical talents of the women that we see the power of the gypsies. Emilia has inherited the gift of seeing into the future, and this together with her increasing command over the weather which results from collecting more of the charms, eventually allow the children to rescue their family and return to their itinerant life. Readers see that gifts like these bring responsibility as well as power, and at times Emilia finds this an almost impossible burden.

 Forsyth portrays the gypsies and their chosen life with sympathetic and dignity, providing a welcome opportunity for readers to gain an informed picture and review their attitude to travelling families in general, to distrust of other ethnic groups and lifestyles, and to the Rom in particular.

2008-02-08