I’ve always been fascinated by gypsies. I’ve seen so many films about them. Some are horror films like Drag Me To Hell, where the old gypsy woman levels a curse on a rude girl. Then there is an old favorite of mine with Pierce Brosnan, Nomads, about gypsies roaming our highways and byways. Very excellent.
I suspect there are gypsies roaming freely but their mode of travel nowadays is the motor home. What do you think?
Read on and enjoy the glimpse inside The Cadence of Gypsies.
Don’t forget to enter the giveaway!
THE CADENCE OF GYPSIES
By
Barbara Casey
BLURB:
Three high-spirited 17 year olds, with intelligent quotients in the genius range, accompany their teacher and mentor, Carolina Lovel, to Frascati, Italy, a few weeks before they are to graduate from Wood Rose Orphanage and Academy for Young Women. Carolina’s purpose in planning the trip is to remove her gifted, creative students from the Wood Rose campus located in Raleigh, North Carolina, so they can’t cause any more problems (“expressions of creativity”) for the headmaster, faculty, and other students – which they do with regularity. Carolina also wants to visit the Villa Mondragone where the Voynich Manuscript, the most mysterious document in the world, was first discovered and search how it is related to a paper written in the same script she received on her 18th birthday when she was told that she was adopted – a search that will take them into the mystical world of gypsy tradition and magic, more exciting and dangerous than any of them could have imagined.
A glimpse inside:
The slight voice tremor was all that was needed, but the deep, audible sigh confirmed what Carolina suspected: that she was in for another real ass-chewing. This would be the eighth time getting called into the headmaster’s office in the same number of months she had been teaching at Wood Rose Orphanage and Academy for Young Women. Each time it had been because her girls had committed a serious infraction of rules or behaved in some inappropriate way that was unacceptable within the stone walls of Wood Rose.
Her girls, the ones she had been given total responsibility for, called themselves Females of Intellectual Genius, or FIGs. Everyone else, however, called them strange. Never before in the history of Wood Rose had a student even come close to approaching genius status. Certainly not in the time that Dr. Harcourt had been headmaster. Then, within the short span of one week, two seven-year-old children–Dara Roux and Mackenzie Yarborough–were admitted, each from a different family, a different background, and a different part of the country, but each with an intelligence quotient well within the range of genius. Amazingly, several years later, a third student–Jennifer Torres–was enrolled, whose age and scores were comparable to those of the original FIGs. What Wood Rose could do for these gifted girls was now coming to a close, much to the relief of the administration, faculty, and staff alike. This would be their final year at Wood Rose Orphanage and Academy for Young Women, for in June–less than six weeks away–they would graduate.
Carolina was still in bed, deep in thought as she usually was whenever she had a quiet moment to herself, when the telephone rang. For several days she had been struggling with how best to approach the headmaster. Ever since being put in charge of the FIGs shortly after getting hired at Wood Rose, she had been trying to come up with innovative ways in which she could somehow excite her girls, challenge their intellect, and, most of all, keep them out of trouble. The inherent problems of being different extended beyond their prickly relationship with Wood Rose staff members. The multi-faceted difficulties in teaching the FIGs frequently left the faculty with feelings of inferiority and impotency at the very least. None of the other residents wanted to be around them either, with the exception of the youngest residents who didn’t yet comprehend the difference between being brilliant and normal, which brought about additional struggles of an inner psychological nature. Carolina had tried a variety of things, but, obviously, what she had been doing wasn’t working. What had stimulated her when she was their age? What mysteries of the universe had intrigued her?
Then she had remembered.
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AUTHOR INFORMATION:
Originally from Carrollton, Illinois, Barbara Casey attended the University of North Carolina, North Carolina State University, and North Carolina Wesleyan College where she received a BA degree, summa cum laude, with a double major in English and history. In 1978 she left her position as Director of Public Relations and Vice President of Development at North Carolina Wesleyan College to write full time and develop her own manuscript evaluation and editorial service. Since that time her award-winning articles, short stories, and poetry for adults have appeared in several publications including the AMERICAN POETRY ANTHOLOGY, the SPARROWGRASS POETRY FORUM, THE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF POETRY (Editor’s Choice Award), the NORTH CAROLINA CHRISTIAN ADVOCATE MAGAZINE, THE NEW EAST MAGAZINE, the RALEIGH (NC) NEWS AND OBSERVER, the ROCKY MOUNT (NC) SUNDAY TELEGRAM, DOG FANCY, BYLINE, TRUE STORY and THE CHRISTIAN RECORD. A thirty-minute television special which Ms. Casey wrote and coordinated was broadcast on WRAL, Channel 5, in Raleigh, North Carolina. Ms. Casey’s award-winning science fiction short stories for adults are featured in THE COSMIC UNICORN and CROSS TIME short story anthologies. Her essays, also written for adults, appear in THE CHRYSALIS READER, the international literary journal of the Swedenborg Foundation, and A CUP OF COMFORT ANTHOLOGY by the Adams Media Corporation.
Her two middle-grade/young adult novels, LEILANI ZAN and GRANDMA JOCK AND CHRISTABELLE (James C. Winston Publishing Co.) were nominated for awards of excellence by the SCBWI Golden Kite Award, the National Association of University Women Literary Award and the Sir Walter Raleigh Literary Award. SHYLA’S INITIATIVE (Crossquarter Publishing Group, 2002), a contemporary adult novel of fiction, received the 2003 Independent Publisher Book Award and received special recognition for literary merit by the Palm Beach County Cultural Council. Ms. Casey’s novel THE COACH’S WIFE (ArcheBooks Publishing), a contemporary mystery, was listed as a Publisher’s Best Seller and was semifinalist of the Dana Award for Outstanding Novel. In 2007 her novel, THE HOUSE OF KANE (ArcheBooks Publishing), also a contemporary mystery, was considered for a Pulitzer nomination, and in December 2009 her novel, JUST LIKE FAMILY (Wandering Sage Publications), was launched by the
7-Eleven stores in St. Louis, Missouri. Her young adult novel, THE CADENCE OF GYPSIES (Gauthier Publications), was released in March 2011 and considered for the Smithsonian’s Most Notable 2011 Books. It has also been selected by Amazon for its 2013 List of Best Books. THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO PRISSY (Strategic Media Books), a novel for adults, was released in March 2013 and received an IPPY Award for Best Regional Fiction. It has also been listed as a “2013 Best Summer Read” by Conversations Live Radio and has been placed in nomination for a Pulitzer Award.
Ms. Casey is a frequent guest speaker at writers’ conferences and universities throughout the United States. She is former director, guest author, and panelist of BookFest of the Palm Beaches, Florida; and for thirteen years she served as judge for the Pathfinder Literary Awards in Florida. She held the position of Florida Regional Advisor for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators from 1991 to 2003.
Ms. Casey is president of the Barbara Casey Agency. She represents clients nationally and internationally in fiction and nonfiction for adults. Her past and present professional associations are numerous and include being editorial consultant for The Jamaican Writers Circle in affiliation with the University of West Indies and MicoTeachers College in Kingston. She also received special recognition for her editorial work on the English translations of Albanian children’s stories.
LINKS
http://www.amazon.com/The-Cadence-Gypsies-Barbara-Casey
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Barbara will be awarding a $25 Amazon or BN.com gift card to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour.
Do you know anything about gypsies? Do they still roam? What did you think of the excerpt?
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Related articles
- Casey’s Cadence of Gypsies (bloodredshadow.com)
I know there are gypsies still around, but I wouldn’t know one to see one. I do not think they have any special powers, though.
Hi Tiffany,
With all of the research I did in preparing to write THE CADENCE OF GYPSIES, I don’t know if they have special powers either. I do know that I came across enough evidence that makes me want to keep an open mind about it. I think gypsies who still follow the old traditions know a lot about nature that they use in their lives, and we, as a society, have simply lost that ability.
Thank you for commenting.
I think the mystery around gypsies is magical more than they are. It has an appeal to be nomads, to travel and not settle permanently.
Thank you so much for hosting me today. I look forward to hearing from your bloggers.
I think gypsies have always held a fascination. When I was doing my research for THE CADENCE OF GYPSIES, I learned that some of the things I thought were only myth and fabrications about gypsy culture and tradition really aren’t. I don’t know if they have special powers, but I do know that I will keep an open mind. There are just so many things in the gypsy life that can’t be explained. THE CADENCE OF GYPSIES talks about some of those mysteries.
It’s a joy to have you on my blog! Gypsies represent freedom to me. Free to come and go and live as they wish. It’s been romanticized and villified in movies and books. It must have been fun to research their traditions and lore.
It was fun to try to separate the fact from the fiction where gypsies are concerned. In the end, we still don’t know how much is really true. I do believe that the old traditionalists have certain “abilities” simply because they know so much about nature. I remember as a 4-year-old child I took piano lessons from an elderly lady who lived on the river in New Bern, NC. She had a back, closed-in porch that had baskets filled with sweet-smelling things: fresh fruits, vegetables, but also other things found along the river or in the nearby woods. One day I got sick and couldn’t go to my lesson. So she came to our house with something sweet-smelling and put it next to my pillow. She told me I would be fine the next day. And I was. Now this woman wasn’t a gypsy as far as I know, but she definitely had the spirit or a gypsy. And whether or not I was actually cured by that something that smelled sweet, or I was just an impressionable kid who believed an old woman, I don’t know. But things do happen that can’t be explained. And gypsies seem to follow that path–at least the ones who haven’t been absorbed into our modern-day society.
I love the mystery surrounding gypsies. They have always intrigued me. I don’t think they are so much magical, as they use the things around them – in their daily lives. I think people look at them as being thieves, pickpockets….I like their freedom, moving place to place, but do they ever miss a HOME – or is it, home is where the heart is. Sounds like a great book. Thanks Barbara and Laura for the great giveaway.
Hi Sherry. You bring up an interesting point about whether the gypsy misses home. From what I was able to find out, they really are nomadic in every sense of the word. They simply don’t enjoy settling down in one place. They need to have that sense of freedom that travel allows them. It is interesting to know that there are gypsies all over the world, but they are most prevalent in some of the European countries. Here in the US, they tend to get absorbed into our society, but there are some groups of them that still practice the old beliefs and strive to protect the old traditions.
Hi Barbara. I find them mysterious and intriguing. I have watched several TV shows about Gypsies, but I don’t think I have ever read any books about them. Maybe this will be my first. ^_^
Thanks for hosting!
You’re most welcome and thank you for such a wonderful tour.
I don’t think gypsies have any special powers. My mom told me she was afraid of them.
Rita, I had to laugh at your comment. It brought back a memory. One summer when I was a little girl I went back to Illinois to visit my grandparents. While I was there a band of gypsies came into town and set up their camp for a few days. Immediately all of the towns people started watching their gardens and live stock, fearing the gypsies would help themselves. My grandfather, on the other hand, took some meat out of the freezer and a couple of bags of fresh vegetables from the garden and took it to the gypsies. When I asked him about it, he just said that they were probably tired and hungry from all of their traveling. Of course, all the time the gypsies were there, people in town complained that some of their chickens had been stolen, or some of their vegetables had been picked. All I know is, the gypsies never took anything from my grandparents’ farm. In THE CADENCE OF GYPSIES, even though it is fiction, it does show both bad and good in the gypsy culture.
Sounds interesting
bn100candg at hotmail dot com
I’m intrigued. I can’t remember ever reading a book about gypsies and this is so well researched it will feel genuine.
I think you will especially like the part about the Voynich Manuscript. What I write about it is based on fact.
Thank you so much for inviting me to be your guest. I had a wonderful time, and you and your bloggers are fantastic.
My best to you,
Barbara
The lives of gypsies are intriguing to me. Moving from place to place, using what is around you, working where you can. I think it would be fun to an extent but you would never be able to make long-term friendships with “outsiders”.
That is so true, Amanda. The gypsies I write about in THE CADENCE OF GYPSIES are very much like you describe, and they prefer to keep to themselves. They don’t trust outsiders. But in my story, the FIGs (the three orphans who call themselves Females of Intellectual Genius) discover a special connection between their teacher and the gypsies they meet in Italy. I hope you get a chance to read it. Thank you for commenting.
[…] Giveaway Blast ~ The Cadence of Gypsies […]
I wanted to share my good news with all of you who have taken an interest in my novel, The Cadence of Gypsies. It was just announced that The Cadence of Gypsies has received a bronze medal for the 2013 IPPY (Independent Publishers) “Now Living” Book Award for Best Adventure Novel.
My best,
Barbara
Woot! Woot! Congratulations Barbara! You must be on top of the world right now! I really have got to get reading!
Congratulations! Wishing you many downloads Barbara.