The novel begins in Czechoslovakia in the early 1930s when Zoli, a you ng Roma girl, is six years old. The fascist Hlinka guards had driven m ost of her people out onto the frozen lake and forced them to stay the re until the spring, when the ice cracked and everyone drowned - Zoli' s parents, brothers and sisters. Now she and her grandfather head off in search of a 'company'. Zoli teaches herself to read and write and b ecomes a singer, a privileged position in a gypsy company as they are viewed as the guardians of gypsy tradition. But Zoli is different beca use she secretly writes down some of her songs. With the rise of the N azis, the suppression of the gypsies intensifies. The war ends when Zo li is 16 and with the spread of socialism, the Roma are suddenly regar ded as 'comrades' again. Zoli meets Stephen Swann, a man she will have a passionate affair with, but who will also betray...
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Recensioner
2010-01-27
Betyg 
En svårforcerad roman, mycket tät skriven. Ett oerhört gripande kvinnoöde som kunde vara sant. Intressant och lärorik skildring av romers kultur och hur den har slagits i spillror. Ingen smickrande bild. Ska alla folk vara lika? Och vad för avvikelser kan vi tolerera? Bli bekant med Zoli, det är hon värd.
