HARD HEARTS ARE FOR CABBAGES

by Vii Putnam ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 11, 1959

Told from the point of view of a gypsy child who travels the railway caravan from New York to California, this refreshing novel by a Romany turns a kaleidescopic lens on her eclectic Romany race. Loosely structured, the novel uses the reminiscence of its heroine as a casual device within which to encompass a wealth of material on the polyglot culture of the gypsies. Allegedly descended from East Indian stock, the gypsies have been at once the scourge and delight of nations. Spanning the world, they recognize no laws but their own, bound always by the loose but powerful bond of racial consciousness. A people of paradoxes, they are at once intellectually curious and wildly superstitious; honest with each other to a point of frenzy yet willing to lie, steal and cheat to the stranger as a matter of duty; wealthy, in instances to a fabulous extent, yet condemned by society and custom to squalor. For anyone who has ever gazed with longing curiosity through the curtain of a gypsy shop, this slight but moving novel will be a delightful diversion.

Pub Date: June 11, 1959

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Crown

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1959

Categories: FICTION