It is with great pleasure that I reserve this time to provide this short review/intro to a book that I finished reading the weekend just past. I don’t usually leave book reviews, however, in this case I feel compelled to share the enjoyment, emotional connection, and education I’ve been lucky enough to have experienced. It never ceases to amaze me how stimulating and captivating reading a book can be; and in this case, I must promote that these habitual feelings of gratification and a sense of pride in making good use of my free time multiply. The book I am referring to is entitled: ‘Manouche: Living with the Gypsies of France’ and is a personal account written and expertly crafted by the debutant author: Nigel Parsons.
The story being told, which offers an excellent and interesting insight into what it was like to live as a gypsy in France, begins during the 1970s, while Nigel was working a grape harvest next to a temporary gypsy settlement. The French family employing Nigel had warned him several times to stay away from the Manouche, but the warnings had fallen on deaf ears: the warm and welcoming communication he had already had with some of the 5 gypsy families who lived nearby, along with the nightly bonfires, music and dancing had already earned Nigel’s loyalty. The end of the harvest would always lead to a great end of harvest party and a great moment of celebration. However, on this occasion, surprisingly, Nigel learned that the 5 gypsy families had been excluded from this particular end of harvest party. The gypsies disappeared into the night and Nigel soon followed them.
The story that follows spans 40 years and brings with it a series of ups and downs. Great lifelong friendships are formed, while cultures and ways of life are destroyed and lost in what can be a very cruel world at times. Nigel Parsons recalled his time living with the Gypsies as one of the happiest and best days of his life. Roma families had and have very little in the eyes of most, but these tend to be more materialistic elements in one’s life. Reading the Manouche: Living with the Gypsies of France goes a long way in reconfirming to myself/the reader, that there is much more to life than material objects and belongings of various kinds. The connection that one human being can have with another can be and is much more powerful and useful.
Nigel Parsons now lives with his family in south-west London, and looks back on those interesting years during the 1970s with a fondness you simply can’t have for articles.