This is one of the novels that is a beautiful story, but you learn a lot along the way. It was exciting to read about the country my family is from (the former Czechoslovakia). I've also been interested in the Roma culture ever since my first trip to Europe in 1996.

The only thing about this book I didn't enjoy was the too frequent change of narrator. Zoli is the most compelling character in the book and should have had the most time; Swann didn't deserve a so much space and the journalist provided a nice outsider's view of Zoli's culture, but he just kind of disappears.