I thoroughly enjoyed Rosemary Penfold's story. I related easily to Rosemary's love of the natural world, which echoes the almost mystical reverence which Tom Odley has for it. As a gaujo, I couldn't say how typical or realistic her account of a Gypsy childhood was, but as soon as she started to write about her experiences as a home help, I recognised the richly comic, tragic and interesting stories as typical of older people in the rural south west, and was completely gripped!
Sadly, I don't think this book is very likely to change anybody's attitude, as anyone unsympathetic towards Gypsies is probably unlikely to read it.
Nevertheless, it will be a rich mine of statements correcting common misconceptions and prejudices. Rosemary has a lovely, pithy, common-sense way of expressing her rebuttals of such ideas.
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