A Gypsy's Curse

by E.L. Parfitt

Scotland, 1815. Romani storyteller, Mairead, has always longed for a home and a family. But when she marries Lachlan, a Scottish fisherman, she is met with suspicion and scorn by the people of Auchenmeall, who despise her Gypsy heritage and her stories. Her life becomes even more perilous when her husband pulls a bottle from the sea that contains a genie, who gives Mairead a year to choose her own death. As the genie’s curse looms over her, Mairead must deal with accusations of witchcraft, betrayal, and murder, as well as the secrets and lies that threaten to tear her family apart.

A Gypsy’s Curse is a historical fiction novel with a twist of fairy tale and fantasy. It is inspired by the Scottish folktale The Fisherman and the Genie, and explores the themes of identity, prejudice, and destiny. If you enjoy historical fiction with a touch of folklore and storytelling, you will love this audiobook. Cover design by Oeindrilla Mukherjee.

Audible Audio

Published July 9, 2025

About the author

Emma's new book The Secret Cult of the Miners' Library is out now!

In the lead‑mining village of Wanlockhead, Scotland, danger runs deeper than the pits themselves. After a devastating mining disaster, sisters Rachel and Sarah are left reeling — one desperate to escape, the other just trying to cope with daily life.
Amidst rising complaints about the library’s morally questionable books, Minister Laurie, a man grappling with his faith, becomes an unwilling witness to the Duke’s dark secrets surrounding the Miners’ Library and the spiritual corruption wrought by gold.

The Miners’ Library hides more than books. Georgiana, the duke’s restless wife, suspects her husband’s ties to a Jacobite plot that could destroy them all. Disguised as a man, she dares to infiltrate the society – only to uncover a bewitched mirror and a soul imprisoned within, feeding on the chaos it creates.

The Secret Cult of the Miners' library is a historical-fantasy fiction novel. Inspired by the village of Wanlockhead and its folklore.

Emma is a British-Scottish author of contemporary fiction, whose writing has been featured on Radio 2, and won second place in the Just Imagine short story competition with her story A Traveller's Daughter. It is possible to identify several themes in her novels – the relationship between parents and children and between siblings, obscure fairy tale references, and, more recently, the structure and organisation of society and how this relates to social challenges and the individual lives of her characters.

Reviews

[Kathryn Spurgeon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting

A haunting book that drew me in as the main character drew closer and closer to tragedy. A great picture of the times.

[April D · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Gypsy's Curse

This is such a lovely book! (The dictionary needs to be prefaced, but after a few pages of getting to understand how it reads then it is hard to put down!) If you love Romani gypsies, Scotland, fiction, ghost stories, folklore, and pure love, this book has it all. Following a gypsy to a fisher village in Scotland, she marries but life is hard. She stays a very strong, independent, and loving woman even when times get horrible. For months the village men leave to fish, leaving her with an unapproving town. When her husband returns he's not sure what to think for himself. Our gypsy is so relevant to today's society and how we label people when we really aren't all that different without the labels we place.

[Jeanne ML · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like how you drew the fisherfolk village, it’s really vivid. I really like the main character's voice. I like how she’s her own person, and that she’s not a pale imitation of a fantasied woman who only thinks about love and her man. The chapters' titles revolved around roles (traveller’s daughter, wife, daughter, sister, witch, whore, and mother), which are all the labels that bind women to roles and tiny boxes we want them to fit in. All the things we have to go through, accept, and leave when we walk our path. Though none of them define us women, it’s the tools we have to navigate the world.

[Natasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

For People Who Like Stories

I liked this book. The main character was likeable. Perhaps a little too hard on herself. There is kind of antagonist, who I found more annoying than anything else. "A Gypsy's Curse" is more of a Historical Fiction than any sort of fantasy, but it is a good piece of literature all the same. I did find the pacing slow. The setting was wonderful and I was intrigued to learn more about the small Scottish fishing town they were in. I recommend this to people, like me, who love stories, for the main character in this book does too!

[Rod Raglin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A re-imagining of this Scottish Folktale The Fisherman and the Genie is a remarkable achievement. Not only has the author, Emma Parfitt, woven an intriguing story, but she’s also told it in a “muddled up” language that rather than detracting from the narrative made it all the more authentic. Right from the beginning, I liked the voice and the feisty character of the protagonist was appealing.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

seems a cute little story

[Fiona Henderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this story. There were some interesting characters and I think it would make a great Scottish period drama for tv too.