gypsy idyll

by Rowena Farre

Written by a woman who refused to acknowledge the social divisions that keep us apart, A Time From the World is an intimate account of a nomadic culture that is repeatedly sensationalised, glamourized, demonised, and just plain misunderstood.

First published January 1, 1962

About the author

Pseudonym of Daphne Lois Macready.

Rowena Farre was a British author who spent her early childhood with her parents in Hong Kong, or possibly India. At the age of ten, her parents sent her to live with an aunt in Scotland and later she wrote her first autobiographical novel based on her life there. During WWII she worked as a Radar Operator on a remote RAF station in Pembrokeshire. Shortly after the publication of her first book in 1957 she disappeared mysteriously and efforts to trace her were unsuccessful. She reappeared in 1962 and published her second book about her life with the gypsies. Her third book, about traveling to the Himalayas to find and learn from a renowned guru, was published in 1969. Rowena Farre died in 1979.

Reviews

[J M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inspired by Isabelle Eberhardt's call "to take the decision, to cast off every bond with which modern life and the weakness of our own hearts have chained us, to arm ourselves with the symbolic sack and staff of the pilgrim and to depart . . .", Rowena Farre, a reluctant art student in London in the 1950s, left the city to travel with gypsies, tinkers and mumpers, picking fruit and vegetables, selling trinkets and telling fortunes. She describes her time with the people she meets on the road with an eye for what outsiders might find strange or incomprehensible, revealing at the same time her openness to adventure and recognition of the generosity of spirit among most of those she meets. Accepted as a fellow nomad, she slips easily into the life of the encampment, and just as easily moves on. From a 21st century perspective, Farre's ability to escape the social prejudices of the 1950s - both those concerning gypsies and travellers and those concerning women striking out alone - make this in some senses a 'modern' read, and others a salutory one. The gypsy world she describes has largely vanished, but in their place, Eastern European pickers now suffer similar animosity and possibly worse living and working conditions. But it is the enigma of Farre herself that remains when the book is finished. Beyond some scant biographical detail - childhood in India, her dreary life as a student and office worker in London, and her dreams of travel to distant lands - we know her only through the way she looks out at the world, almost nothing of her inner self. But it is a pleasure to travel with her for a while and share a few cups of mookerimungeri.

[Danesh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lovely autobiography of the elusive author, Rowena Farre.

This is the story of her when she was a young art student in London (1940s). She would use her grant money, get a fellow student to sign into her classes, and then disappear for months on end to Scotland or the English-Welsh borderlands to travel with a Gypsy community.

I enjoyed the light and airy but evocative writing. Her lifestyle has romantic appeal. It was also educational. I learned about the Gypsy community. However, I felt it rambled a bit.

But still, some nice bits and worth a read.

From page 44:

"Presently Ma shifted her position slightly. She muttered something, then said, strangely: Don't play that tune again - it's crossed with violets..." The words were spoken softly but audibly, and disturbed the air like the wings of moth."

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

published in 1962...author is an intermittent art student in London who joins a band of Romany and traveles through England for about a year, spending a good portion of that time living with a Romany man who wants to marry her. Fascinating

[Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a romantically seductive idea it is to drift along the byways and laneways of rural England at the slow pace of a horsedrawn cart.