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Memory Lane
The Gypsy's Daughter
A gripping, heart-wrenching saga for fans of Dilly Court and Kitty Neale. Harmony 'Harry' Loveridge is growing up on a farm in post-war Kent. With a Gypsy for a father, she has had a somewhat unconventional, yet happy life. But Harry has always hoped for more. And with ambitions to go to university and a scholarship in sight, it looks as though she is about to get what she wants. That is until one fateful night, during the yearly hopping when something happens to Harry. Something that could take everything away from her . . . Refusing to give up on her dreams - and herself - Harry must draw on all her strength and courage as she embarks on her new life in Nottingham. Will she be able to escape the tragedies of her past, or is history doomed to repeat itself? Don't miss the latest spellbinding story from Katie Hutton - author of The Gypsy Bride .
400 pages, Paperback
Published October 1, 2021
8 people are currently reading
17 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 26, 2021
Can love restore hope after trauma? A poignant and compelling historical saga:
Harmony (Harry) is a bright and beautiful teenage girl of partly Gypsy heritage. She is raped by seasonal farm workers yet denied legal redress. Her family and her schoolteacher nurture her determination to prove herself as a survivor and she wins a university scholarship.
As this moving story unfolds, Harry, an excellent student, is courted by a haughty and controlling French lecturer but her heart is drawn to working-class Ned from the bicycle factory. Ned is also wounded by his past and their love must help them to overcome their trauma. Their story mirrors a time of hope, when England strove to heal and develop after WW2.
This compelling novel is beautifully written and richly evoked. Its varied voices and regional accents are deftly written and there are cinematic images of the lush countryside of Kent and the bustling streets of Nottingham, the hush of libraries and the clatter of factories.
The story rests on a solid foundation of social history - of that era in England, after WW2 and before Thatcher, when thriving industries, full employment and trades unions brought prosperity to many. It was an era that had its problems - and Katie Hutton references the treatment of homosexuals and minorities and the misogyny of the justice system - but also was a time when university education, affordable for all, was a powerful enabler of individual and social advancement.
The Gypsy’s Daughter reads well as a stand alone novel but is a sequel to The Gypsy Bride, a family saga.
I received an ARC of this novel in return for an honest review.
Harmony (Harry) is a bright and beautiful teenage girl of partly Gypsy heritage. She is raped by seasonal farm workers yet denied legal redress. Her family and her schoolteacher nurture her determination to prove herself as a survivor and she wins a university scholarship.
As this moving story unfolds, Harry, an excellent student, is courted by a haughty and controlling French lecturer but her heart is drawn to working-class Ned from the bicycle factory. Ned is also wounded by his past and their love must help them to overcome their trauma. Their story mirrors a time of hope, when England strove to heal and develop after WW2.
This compelling novel is beautifully written and richly evoked. Its varied voices and regional accents are deftly written and there are cinematic images of the lush countryside of Kent and the bustling streets of Nottingham, the hush of libraries and the clatter of factories.
The story rests on a solid foundation of social history - of that era in England, after WW2 and before Thatcher, when thriving industries, full employment and trades unions brought prosperity to many. It was an era that had its problems - and Katie Hutton references the treatment of homosexuals and minorities and the misogyny of the justice system - but also was a time when university education, affordable for all, was a powerful enabler of individual and social advancement.
The Gypsy’s Daughter reads well as a stand alone novel but is a sequel to The Gypsy Bride, a family saga.
I received an ARC of this novel in return for an honest review.
June 25, 2021
Being Irish we've a history of gypsies and travellers, as they're now better know, but until reading Kate Hutton's mesmerising stories I knew little about them, their history or lifestyle.
The Gypsy's Daughter is an enthralling follow up to The Gypsy Bride - not necessary to read the first before delving into the second, but I'd strongly recommend reading both.
The Gypsy's Daughter is about Harry (given name of Harmony) daughter of Sam and Ellen who dominated Hutton’s first title. This is a story of love, survival and adapting to a changing way of life while holding onto beliefs. Set in the 1950s primarily around Nottinghamshire the story draws on the Romany background. Although Sam is settled as manager of a hop farm, his gypsy ways are still with him. Ellen is a teacher and supports his beliefs. Their daughter Harry is bright, enquiring and one of the brightest students at Nottingham University. She catches the fancy of a French lecturer, a situation that goes from bad to worse until the family rally around, and after satisfying plot twists and turns she and Ned fall in love.
Hutton creates strong characters who come alive on the pages; tantalising plots; flowing narration and crisp dialogue, laden with dialect. And all ends well with The Gypsy's Daughter.
The Gypsy's Daughter is an enthralling follow up to The Gypsy Bride - not necessary to read the first before delving into the second, but I'd strongly recommend reading both.
The Gypsy's Daughter is about Harry (given name of Harmony) daughter of Sam and Ellen who dominated Hutton’s first title. This is a story of love, survival and adapting to a changing way of life while holding onto beliefs. Set in the 1950s primarily around Nottinghamshire the story draws on the Romany background. Although Sam is settled as manager of a hop farm, his gypsy ways are still with him. Ellen is a teacher and supports his beliefs. Their daughter Harry is bright, enquiring and one of the brightest students at Nottingham University. She catches the fancy of a French lecturer, a situation that goes from bad to worse until the family rally around, and after satisfying plot twists and turns she and Ned fall in love.
Hutton creates strong characters who come alive on the pages; tantalising plots; flowing narration and crisp dialogue, laden with dialect. And all ends well with The Gypsy's Daughter.
August 5, 2021
Set in the 1950s, this is the story of the tumultuous girlhood of Harmony, known as ‘Harry’, daughter of Ellen Loveridge and her Gypsy husband Sam, whose courtship and marriage Katie Hutton brought to us in last year’s The Gypsy Bride. Sam is the foreman on a hop farm in Kent, where Harry is violently assaulted one summer in her teens. Made of strong stuff like her mother, Harry puts this outrage behind her and fulfils her promising academic career with a scholarship to Nottingham University, where she is courted by two men, one a glamorous French teacher, the other a factory hand with aspirations of his own.
Like its predecessor, The Gypsy’s Daughter brings strong echoes of Thomas Hardy and even – with its Nottinghamshire miners who talk in dialect – of D.H. Lawrence, no less. The family saga morphs into high drama when Harry attracts what we now call a stalker, and there is a powerful climactic chapter in the Old Bailey. Like Melvyn Bragg, Katie Hutton convincingly and vividly brings the ‘classic’ literary traditions of bygone times into the postwar era, with its huge change in fashion and customs and values. Her characters – and the events that shape their lives – tug at your heartstrings. This is an immensely satisfying read.
Like its predecessor, The Gypsy’s Daughter brings strong echoes of Thomas Hardy and even – with its Nottinghamshire miners who talk in dialect – of D.H. Lawrence, no less. The family saga morphs into high drama when Harry attracts what we now call a stalker, and there is a powerful climactic chapter in the Old Bailey. Like Melvyn Bragg, Katie Hutton convincingly and vividly brings the ‘classic’ literary traditions of bygone times into the postwar era, with its huge change in fashion and customs and values. Her characters – and the events that shape their lives – tug at your heartstrings. This is an immensely satisfying read.
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April 24, 2022Bright and feisty, a girl called Harry (neè Harmony) triumphs over personal trauma and pushes aside prejudice to earn her way from Romani roots on a Canterbury hop farm to a university education in the 1950s England. Even the conniving abduction by her smitten uni lecturer cannot deter this foxy gypsy's daughter, who wins true love through charm and perseverance. Author Kate Hutton’s meticulous historical research and fresh dialogue reveal England’s post-war recovery epoch, a time ripe for the social change that her compelling characters champion. Vivid and bristling with can-do verve, this little jewel will keep you turning the pages. LA Robbins, author of Unspooling the Light
August 22, 2021
I really enjoyed this historical romance, mostly set in the 1950s. I also really loved being able to catch up with Ellen and Sam – the lovers in the prequel, The Gypsy’s Daughter. The heroine of this one, and daughter of Ellen and Sam, is both warm and kind, plucky and determined. The novel doesn’t shy away from the social mores and misogyny of the times, giving it a gritty, realistic edge. The characters are engaging and entertaining, the prose lucid and evocative. A great, all-round read.
September 4, 2021
Loved this second book by Katie Hutton. I'd urge anyone who hasn't to read 'The Gypsy's Bride' first.
January 12, 2022
This was good 👍
January 23, 2022
Superb story. It’s the first time I have read works by this author. I shall be looking out for her next book.
April 19, 2022
The sequel to The Gypsy's Bride which I loved, and this one didn't disappointed either.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews