Gypsy Boy

A "brash and frightening and funny" memoir of growing up in—and leaving—a Romany family in the UK (New York Times).

Romany Gypsies live in a secluded community, and little is known about their way of life. After centuries of persecution, they are wary of outsiders, and if you choose to leave you can never come back. This is something Mikey Walsh knows only too well.


Growing up, he didn't go to school, he seldom mixed with non-Gypsies, and the caravan became his world. It was a rich and unusual upbringing, but although Mikey inherited a vibrant and loyal culture, his family's legacy was bittersweet, with a hidden history of violence and grief. Eventually Mikey was forced to make an agonizing decision—to stay and keep secrets, or escape and find somewhere to belong.

Gypsy Boy shows, for the first time, what life is really like among the Romany Gypsies. A surprise #1 bestseller in Great Britain, this is an "absolutely riveting" one-of-a-kind memoir of a little-seen world, both fascinating and heartbreaking (Anne Lamott, The Miami Herald).


"A gripping and heartfelt page-turner." —Booklist (starred review)


"[His] personal story of being a misfit among misfits is both compelling and universal."—Julia Scheeres, author of Jesus Land

"Best memoir since Running with Scissors." —Attitude

"Sits somewhere between the grittiness of Irvine Welsh and the charming warmth of Frank McCourt." —Dermot O'Leary, television and radio presenter