The Gypsy Lover

About the Book

THE GYPSY LOVER

A Novel - Literary/Mainstream

“A seductive, mesmerizing tale eloquently told.”

Such is the consensus among readers and reviewers alike. This dark, haunting tale asks whether it is possible to survive a love that consumes you.

To escape a life of abuse, fifteen-year-old Evan Adamson sacrifices the love of his childhood sweetheart only to find himself caught up in the ill-begotten adventures of three Gypsy outcasts who ultimately teach him the ways of the heart and the soul, and most importantly that, “...there will always be that in this world which goes beyond understanding and speaks to the heart in a more meaningful way.” There is Mad Nikolai, who carries a secret beyond the possibility of thought; the old fortune-teller, who comes to accept Evan as part of their “destiny”; and Armanda, the sixteen-year-old beauty who reads the dark and foreboding enigmas in Evan’s palm. He is drawn by their powers and mesmerized by their ways, confused by “visions” and “vague premonitions of things to come.” The story is filled with Gypsy tales and curses, the bujo (a “switch-the-bag” swindle), murder, infidelity, love, and revenge. When Evan finds himself torn between the dark girl of his dreams and a promise he made to his mother years before, he sees in a single moment the reflection of his own true nature and the capacity for a love that transcends all else. By the very enigma of riddles, he comes to discover himself. And those discoveries are both heartbreaking and wise, as complex as they are devastating – for in heaven and in our dreams, love is simple and glorious, but it is something quite different in the world of flesh.

The Gypsy Lover is patterned loosely after the bildungsroman whose principal subject is the moral, psychological, and intellectual development of its youthful protagonist. The story is a thematic mystery, at the heart of which lie riddles and discovery. It is the story of love, acceptance and loss, of disaster and death, of renewal. The plot is circular and character driven (a boy in search of himself) and defined by a number of emotional turning points, which lead to climax and denouement where “all things come back around.”

“…a real talent. The Gypsy Lover is a picaresque coming of age story, rich in plot, romance, tragedy, and theme.”
—The Editorial Department

“A classic coming of age story…The Gypsy Lover is an artfully written novel that can be understood on many different levels; it is a book worth reading several times to capture the full flavor of its message of hope, healing and redemption.”
—Steeped in Thought Book News

"Intoxicatingly poetic...by turns stunningly beautiful and prosaic, The Gypsy Lover is innovative, unequaled, and recommended."
—Romance Reviews Today

About the Author

Roger Ladd Memmott is a prize-winning author whose short stories and poetry have appeared in dozens of literary magazines, including Sou’wester, Confrontation, and New Millennium Writings. He taught Creative Writing at the University of Cincinnati for several years, where he edited Eureka Review – A Journal of Fiction, Poetry & Art. His novel The Gypsy Lover was recently published, and he is working on his next novel and a book of poetry. He lives on the West Coast with his wife and has two grown children