The Girl In The Painted Caravan - Couverture rigide

Born into a Romany gypsy family in 1939, Eva Petulengro s childhood seemed to her to be idyllic in every way. She would travel the country with her family in their painted caravan and spend evenings by the fire as they sang and told stories of their past. She didn t go to school or visit a doctor when she was unwell. Instead her family would gather wild herbs to make traditional remedies, hunt game and rabbits, and while the men tended horses to make a living, the young girls would join the women in reading palms. But Eva s perfect world would be turned upside down as the countryside became increasingly hostile to all travellers.

Eva describes the wonderful characters in her family, from her grandfather Naughty Petulengro to her four beautiful aunts who entranced everyone they met, as well as the fascinating people they came across on the road. Moving, evocative, romantic and funny, The Girl in the Painted Caravan vividly captures a way of life that has now, sadly, all but disappeared.

'The writing style of The Girl in the Painted Caravan is chatty and engaging and flows really well.' --The Bookbag.co.uk

'Eva's reminiscences of her travelling childhood are nostalgic, affectionate and distinctly soft-focus... It is a delightful story and she tells it with great charm.' --Lancashire Evening Post

'... charming memoir... A moving elegy for a lost way of life.' --Choice Magazine

'A lively account of a way of life now largely vanished. Petulengro proves an affable guide to her upbringing in a Romany gypsy family and the huge changes caused by the Second World War.' --Who Do You Think You Are Magazine