Gypsy Boy
The bestselling memoir of a Romany childhood
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4.6 • 381 Ratings
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- £5.49
Publisher Description
**SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH**
'It was a revelation. Moving, terrifying, funny and brilliant. I shall never forget it - an amazing achievement' STEPHEN FRY
'Brash and frightening and funny' NEW YORK TIMES
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The Sunday Times bestselling Gypsy Boy was the first commercial memoir written by someone on the inside of the notoriously secretive culture of the Romany Gypsies.
MIKEY WAS BORN into a Romany Gypsy family. They live in a closeted community, and little is known about their way of life. After centuries of persecution Gypsies are wary of outsiders and if you choose to leave you can never come back. This is something Mikey knows only too well. Growing up, he rarely went to school, and seldom mixed with non-Gypsies. The caravan and camp were his world.
But although Mikey inherited a vibrant and loyal culture, his family's legacy was bittersweet with a hidden history of grief and abuse. Eventually Mikey was forced to make an agonising decision - to stay and keep secrets, or escape and find somewhere he could truly belong.
Mikey's amazing story is continued in the sequel Gypsy Boy on the Run.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
First-time author Mikey Walsh provides an unsentimental and compelling look at the louche and brutal culture of Romany Gypsies in the U.K. Walsh's education began at age four with training as a bare-knuckle boxer, a family tradition. "Training" meant a decade's worth of his father beating him up. Walsh's sensitivity left him open to further abuse, both sexual and otherwise. His sole escape was the company of other semiferal Gypsy children and in school; unfortunately, Gypsies frown on school, and he was put to work at age 12 in his father's scams. Walsh's realization of his homosexuality drove him to escape a world where he would always be a pariah. Walsh analyzes the grotesqueries of Gypsy life in painful detail garish trailers, stifling family ties, crime and crudeness, and the constricted options for women who are considered old maids at 21. Yet despite his gruesome experiences, he also praises the fierce loyalty and cultural continuity that have allowed Gypsies to maintain their dignity in the face of hatred for centuries.
Customer Reviews
What an amazing insight
This book is truly beautiful, I have enjoyed every second of the read. Gripping, heart rendering at times yet so interesting and powerful.
It's a must!!
Simply a great book! Got through it in a day, I was hooked! Coming from the same background I was taken back to my childhood!
Best read of 2010
This is the best book I've read this year. Funny, and harrowing. Insightful and poetic. Amazing