Gypsy Boy by Mikey Walsh

I have hesitated to write about this book for a very long time… Talking about a child relentlessly abused is the hardest thing to do.       

Mikey Wash is a Gypsy boy, living in a closeted community. He barely knows world outside the caravan camp and people other than Gypsies. Since he can remember he has been beaten by his father every single day. He has been beaten because he could not fight like other Gypsy boys, he wet the bed or…he dared to live. When Mikey’s mother tries to defend him, she is beaten too. Father is not the only one that abuses Mikey, pedophile uncle makes child's life even more miserable. 

When Mikey realizes that he is gay he does not want to be a part of the community and keep secrets anymore. The only way is to escape…

I suppose that every racist and bigot would use The Gypsy Boy to support their arguments against Gypsies communities. Indeed, the book is pandering all the stereotypes regarding Gypsies: child and women abuse, lack of education, earning money in illegal way etc. In other words, the book focuses only on negative aspects of life in Gypsy community. Moreover, while Gypsies know very well what it means to be discriminated and rejected, they are racists themselves against Georgians and Irish Travelers. Nobody can deny that racism and discrimination against Gypsies do not exist and that they are not regarded as social outcasts. However, it is also true that Gypsies live as they please and do nothing to improve their conditions and make their children’s lives better.

Mikey’s story is heartbreaking and devastating. You attach to the boy very quickly, he makes you part of his small but terrifying world through honest and detailed description of what he went through. Cruelty of his father could not break him tough. He always was good, lovely and funny child.  I was reading Gypsy Boy in the mornings on the way to work. Then, during a day I was unable to not focus on my job! I was thinking only about Mikey and what he was going through. I could not get rid of the picture of his father beating him every single day! Some people might ask why he did not escape earlier, why he stayed for so long. When you are a part of closed community, escaping is very hard. If you know only that small group of people, you do not know outside world, and you do not have place to go, your choices are very limited. And, his father made him believe he was nothing!

One might argue that Mikey’s father was violent because he was Gypsy and all Gypsies are the same. I would say that somebody is violent because he chooses to be this way. He beats his child or wife not because he is Gypsy but simply because he is evil. Even in so- called best families abuse and bullying happen. Somebody can be well- educated, having good job, but still can be violent toward others.

I am surprised that author did not try to make people understand Gypsy community better. He focused on violence issue only. I would like to read more about Gypsy history and the way they live. Author gave some insight into customs and traditions though. In my opinion, it is not enough.

Nevertheless, I think that it is important read because this is one of the few book about Gypsies. It is hard to find other books written from insider’s perspective. Moreover, even in academia you cannot find enough research on Gypsy community. As though nobody thinks Gypsies are worth to write about them…

Purge- an outstanding novel

Without any shadow of doubt, Purge by Sofi Oksanen is an extraordinary ambitious work that deserves to be given the highest consideration. In very sophisticated manner, the author combined complicated family issues with difficult political history of Estonia.

The novel is set is 1992. Aliide Truu, is an elderly widow who lives in countryside in Western Estonia, where people despise her due to her communist past. One day, bruised and terrified girl appears in Aliide’s garden and looks for a shelter. Zara, a prostitute and murderer, is on the run from her inhuman captors. From the very beginning of the book, you feel that both protagonists have deep dark secrets and try to hide their shame. Suspicion and fear characterize relationship between two women.

The book moves back and forth in time and steadily unveils stories of both women. When communists took power in Estonia, Aliide did everything to save her sister’s husband. Consequently, Aliide experienced sexual abuse during interrogation by the communist militia and the shame became inseparable part of her life. By marrying local communist, she got a chance to live relatively normal life. Her sister Ingel was less fortunate, she was sent with her daughter to Siberia. The story of sexual violence and shame repeats with young Zara, who became a victim of human trafficking. Her oppressors, the Russian mafia, made her believe she was nothing more than ‘a stupid girl, a hopeless idiot’. In very realistic way, the author describes what Zara went through and what she did in order to survive. Finally, it is revealed that Zara did not choose Aliide’s house by accident. In fact, she was a granddaughter of Ingel.

Both women experienced sexual abuse but from hands of different oppressors. Aliide was a victim of the communists who possessed unlimited power over people’s lives, while Zara became a sex slave of mafia in post- Soviet period. Those men tried to dehumanize and deprive women of dignity. Aliide and Zara symbolize millions of women around the world- the victims of sexual violence.

Purge is also about great desire to live. The choices that Aliide and Zara made show what people in order to survive are capable of.

Equally important, Purge tells about Estonia’s complicated history. In this book Estonia can be a symbol of every post- soviet state. Description of life in Estonia under communist rule and problems that young independent country had to cope with, might refer to all Central and Eastern European countries. I think that nowadays, many atrocities of communist regime are conveniently forgotten. Purge is a masterpiece of presenting difficult political history through lives of the people. Sofi Oksanen exposed those aspects of life during and after communist era that many people are not aware of, or they forget about. I would recommend this book to everyone who is interested in history of the region.

The only thing that undermines the book is a very unfortunate cover. When I saw it, I assumed Purge was a typical criminal novel, but then, I realized it was much more than that.

This is the best book that I have read in the last few year. There are lots of good books, but there are just a few outstanding books that truly impact people. It has been a great reading experience.