Synopses & Reviews
Fires In the Dark reveals the highly secretive and misunderstood world of the coppersmith gypsies.
In 1927, when prosperity still reigns in Central Europe, Yenko is born to two Coppersmith Gypsies. His parents, Josef and Anna, are nomads who raise their son during the relative calm of the Great Depression of the 1930s. Soon, though, dangerous times threaten to unsettle their family, as their heritage makes them vulnerable targets for ethnic cleansing. As Germany invades Czechoslovakia and the conflicts of World War II begin to unfold, Yenko and his parents become fugitives, forced on a journey that promises only great uncertainty and offers survival as a remote possibility. In the course of their flight, the burden of an ancient tradition rests entirely on Yenko's shoulders.
In capturing the desperation and perseverance of one family during an extraordinary time in history, Louise Doughty pays powerful homage to an insular and little-known culture.
Review
"[A] heartrending portrait of a Romany family struggling to survive before and during the war.... The vibrant Romany culture springs to life in the pages of this gripping narrative." Margaret Flanagan, Booklist
About the Author
Louise Doughty is the author of three novels -- Crazy Paving, Dance with Me, and Honey-Dew -- and three plays for radio. She has also worked extensively as a journalist and broadcaster. Fires in the Dark, winner of a Writers Award from the Arts Council of Great Britain, where it was published to widespread critical acclaim, is the first in a series of novels based on the history of the Romany people and on the author's own family ancestry.