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Title: The Gypsy Crown
Subtitle: Chain of Charms, Book 1
Author: Kate Forsyth
Narrator: Rebecca Macauley
Format: Unabridged
Length: 3 hrs and 17 mins
Language: English
Release date: 01-21-09
Publisher: Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd
Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 3 votes
Genres: Teens, Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Publisher's Summary:
From the best-selling author of the Witches of Eileanan series.
Once there was a gypsy queen who wore on her wrist a chain of six lucky charms - a golden crown, a silver horse, a butterfly caught in amber, a cat's eye shell, a bolt of lightning forged from the heart of a falling star, and the flower of the rue plant, herb of grace. The queen gave each of her six children one of the charms as their lucky talisman, but ever since the chain of charms was broken, the gypsies had been dogged with misfortune.
Book 1: The Gypsy Crown: 9th August - 12th August 1658.
Maggie has given them the first charm - an old gold coin - but Luka and Emilia must escape the brutal thief-taker, Coldham. With a horse, a monkey, a dog, and a huge brown bear in their train, it is hard to travel secretly as they flee across the Surrey countryside. With a little bit of luck - or, as Emilia believes, magic - they manage to escape, but Coldham will not give up so easily.
Members Reviews:
Always a pleasure
Ms Forsyth never fails to produce an amazing piece of work. I've been an avid reader of her books for years now, and have had the pleasure of conversing with her via email a number of times.
The Gypsy Crown is an easy, spellbinding read, which carries the reader on a journey along with Emilia and Luka, two gypsy children and their various pets on their quest to recover five magical charms in order to rescue their imprisoned family in Cromwell's England.
My only problem with this book is that it would have made a fantastic series with a book dedicated to finding each of the charms instead of all in one book. As with all Ms Forsyth's work, this read was over all too quickly and has left me waiting impatiently for her next novel :)
Again here we are with another fantastic book by a great author.
As for a recommendation I have already recommended this book to some of the teachers that I know to read or have there students read..too fantastic.
Delighted to discover this book and this author
Why haven't more people been talking about this book? I loved it.
Set in 1658 England, The Gypsy Crown is a fast-paced and poignant adventure story of two young Rom (gypsy) cousins trying desperately to figure out how to get their family out of jail, where they've been tossed for the crime of singing in public, and are awaiting execution. This is during the reign of Oliver Cromwell, a name that buzzed up from some deep well of my forgotten education -- perhaps your English history isn't buried as deeply as mine, but in case it is: Cromwell was a soldier who rose through the ranks and ended up becoming a regicidal dictator during a short period called the Commonwealth, when King Charles I was executed and his heir exiled.
In the book, it's portrayed as a time of staunch Protestant values -- enforced joylessness and rigidity fraught with the fear of spies and snitches, land confiscations, finger-pointing and betrayals. The gypsies are persecuted terribly, and here I think Forsyth has struck a good balance in depicting the brutality of history in a way middle-graders can digest. Violent and at times heart-breaking, the persecution is toned down but not made light of.
