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Synopsis

Spokes: Stories from the Romany World by Janna Eliot

"I was a doctor. I was a poet. I recited my poems at festivals in towns and villages in my country. Some of my poems are in books. I wrote about freedom and hope, about equality for my people. This is my story. They came for us. "Burn the filthy Gypsies!" they screamed. They dragged my husband from bed. They broke his arms and legs. They torched the house. "Run, Roma scum, run!" I took my baby and followed my star. That's why I'm here. That's why I sit behind the border of my counter, safe, invisible."

Spokes is made up of stories from across the Traveller world featuring British Gypsies; Irish Travellers; East European Roma; and people whose Romani background has remained under wraps in the face of a hostile world.

There's an old violinist, a middle-aged mechanic, a young radio presenter, a schoolboy, a retired banker, a tea-lady, and a teacher.

Janna Eliot – under the pen name of Rukshana Smith – is the author of several previous young adult novels including Sumitra’s Story, Salt on the Snow and Rainbows of the Gutter.

She was born in England of Russian, Armenian, and Roma heritage. Her novels tend to deal with displacement and the search for cultural identity. She is a member of the Gypsy Council, the Roma Support Group and plays guitar with the London Gypsy Orchestra.

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