Romany Gypsies: Bitter Sweet True Romany Stories from my Childhood

By Lenny Harvey

True Romany Gypsy stories from post-war Britain, told as they were lived - harsh, funny, honest, and sometimes heartbreaking.Romany Gypsies is a collection of true stories drawn from Lenny Harvey's childhood between 1943 and 1959, written from memory with a touch of artistic licence to bring the people and places vividly back to life.Raised among Romany families in North London during and after the Second World War, Harvey recalls a world that has now largely disappeared - horse-drawn Vardo wagons, hop picking, flower selling, travelling life, duckering, hawking, and the close-knit traditions of Romany family culture.This is not a romanticised version of Romany life on the open road. It is a personal and honest account of hardship, humour, family, survival, and the realities of growing up between travelling and settled life. While some Romany families lived entirely on the road, many - like Harvey's own family - lived in houses while still keeping horses, wagons, and traditional travelling customs alive.The book also explores old Romany family connections rooted in London, Kent, and Belvedere Marshes, where generations of Romany families travelled, worked, and lived.Author and Romani historian Robert Dawson, President of the RTFHS and writer of almost one hundred Romani and Traveller books, praised the book, writing: "That's how realistic and authentic Lenny Harvey's book is - so spot on, so accurate, so as it was. He takes you right there... I couldn't put it down."He later described the book as: "A book which tells it as it was. Honestly, warts and all."Romany Gypsies is more than a memoir. It is a rare glimpse into a disappearing world, told by someone who truly lived it.r

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B08ZBPK2XN
• ISBN13: 9798721397318
• Release Date: March 2021
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 212 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.0" x 9.0"