Romany Gypsies

Bittersweet True Romany Stories from my Childhood

By: Lenny Harvey

Narrated by: Jay Forrester

Length: 4 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

These are bittersweet and sometimes funny true Romany Gypsy stories from my childhood, from 1943 to 1959. These are true Romany Gypsy stories from my childhood as I remember them, with a little bit of the author’s artistic license to make them more enjoyable. If you are looking for stories that romanticize a Romany Gypsy life on the open road, then this audiobook is probably not for you. However, if you are interested in the true life of Romany Gypsy's, you may find this audiobook interesting.

Not all Romany Gypsies lived in wagons. They more often lived in houses, preferring a permanent base where they couldn’t be told to move on, but still travelling and living the gypsy life in their horse-drawn vardo wagons, carrying on the Romany traditions of flower and rag rug making, duckering (fortune-telling), and hawking (selling) flowers and firewood logs from a horse-drawn cart, as me and mum did, travelling back and forth from the gypsy camp on Belverdere Marshes, the hop picking and fruit farms.

Many kept their carts and horses in their backyards as we did. Some had vardos (horse-drawn wagons) and houses, as did my grandad’s sister, Ocean.

Family History: Lords, ladies, and gypsies going back to over 700 years. We are related to Princess Di and her boys. If family lore is correct, then Princess Di is our 15th cousin once-removed (that means 15 generations back, we shared a grandad).

Winston Churchill is also our 13th cousin three times removed. The removed bit means they are not of the same generation as us. Diana is actually of my mum’s generation, and Winston is the same generation as my great grandad. Sarah Ferguson and her daughters are also our cousins. We share a great grandad back in the 1400s called Richard Yate. I met HRH Prince of Wales in 1996 in Crimea, Ukraine. At the time, I was not aware that he was family. He never mentioned it either. Sadly, none of the family were invited to either Diana or Sarah's wedding. Probably with all our travelling about, they lost our address.

©2021 Leslie Silverman (P)2022 Leslie Silverman

Critic reviews

"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." (Robert Dawson, president of the RTFHS)

I loved this audiobook

Just finished this book & I will listen again. This book has helped me feel better today about myself. Thank you❤️

Superb

An all-time family favorite Such a keeper! ! Best of all it's narrated by the inimitable author.

Excellent Book

Excellent observation and outstanding performance. It offers invaluable insight into Romany social classes and reveals how family resources shape children’s fate.

So good!

This book was REALLY good. I Love this. If you're questioning getting this book, trust me and do it.

A True Walk Through the Past

Loved it. So many fond memories of the time and places in spite of the many sad events.

inspiring and encouraging

stories were short and captivating making me want to learn more about them! loved the favorite quotes!

Amazing story!

The narrators are amazing and really brought this story to life! Story was so well developed, it was hard to stop listening!

EXCELLENT

An enticing and heart felt story. Well written and expertly read. A must read and great story.

Oh my narrator is 🔥🔥

This audio book was amazing and the narrator are great, I would be putty in his hands ❤️❤️❤️

Excellent

I listen to this book in Audible daily while I’m doing my house chores. It keeps me focused. Inside this book,