Review
Both loyal fans of Winspear's
mysteries and the readers new to her work will
welcome this satisfying tale, set in a rural England
that is still haunted by ghosts of The Great War.
Maisie Dobbs is an independent and observant woman
who relies on her perception and intuition to
unravel long-time knots in the cases she pursues.
The 1930's rural Kent countryside and the cityscape
of interwar London serve as convincing historical
settings for the unusual story that unfolds.
Maisie's insights and interactions with an English
Roma (Gypsy) settlement are woven throughout the
story, and the sprinkling of Romani words and
customs expands the reader's understanding of this
ancient—though much persecuted and maligned—culture.
Memories of...
Beyond the Book
From the first page to the
last, Winspear sympathetically
portrays Maisie Dobb's
acceptance of and respect for
Roma people, and celebrates
their spirit. Sometimes referred
to pejoratively as "gypsies" in
English speaking countries (a
corruption of "Egyptian"), this
ancient, family-centered culture
is believed to have emerged from
warrior classes in what is now
Pakistan over a millennium ago.
Migrating north and west into
Europe by the 16th century,
today's Roma are divided by
their Indo-Iranian dialect into
three general populations: the...
