SOLVED. A book about a gypsy girl who draws pictures and is locked in a flat. [s]

[Nicola]

I read this book a long long time ago and I can't remember the title or the author just bits of the plot. But I do remember how I loved the book and it made me cry.
This is what I remember: The book is about a litte gypsy girl who draws these disturbing pictures of fires ( I think?) in her home town (country?) so her family is disgraced and they have to move to a city where her dad keeps her locked in the flat and doesn't let her go out. In the end i'm sure the flat burns down or something like that?
Also, I think the cover had a girl in a red dress on it? or something to do with red anyway.
That's really vague but if anyone can tell me what the book is I'll love you forever and you'll get major hugs (optional)

[April Ann]

HOw long is a long long time ago? Was it an adult book or school age?

[Nicola]

At leaset 4 years ago, and I believe it must have been a young aduly book. It wasn't that long either, maybe 200-300 pages?

[April Ann]

The Diddakoi by Rumer Godden, 1972. 147 pages

Summary:After she is orphaned, seven-year-old Kizzy, who has lived as a Romany, or Gypsy, all her life, must face a small English town's intolerance and find herself a new home and family.
Later editions published under title: Gypsy girl.

Later editions published under title: Gypsy Girl.

[Nicola]

Thanks, but that's definitely not the book. The girl in the one I read didn't have a horse and her gran wasn't mentioned.

[April Ann]

The Amethyst Road by Louise Spiegler, 2005. 328 pages

Summary: Having fled the city of Oestia after attacking an official, sixteen-year-old Serena--an outcast as well as a mixed-race child of a Gorgio father and Yulang mother--seeks to reunite her family and regain her honor.

[Nicola]

I really appreciate your help :) But I'm afraid that isn't the book either. I remember this book being the very first time I came across the word Swastika (I read it many years ago) so I'm sure there's nazi symbolism towards the end.

[April Ann]

OH I think I ran across one that made reference to Germany....

Halinka by Mirjam Pressler, 1998

Summary: While living in a home for emotionally disturbed girls in Germany just after World War II, twelve-year-old Halinka carefully hides her thoughts, feelings, and even her hopes.

[Nicola]

That one sounds really interesting, but still not the one I'm looking for :( I'm starting to think I just dreamt about the existence of the book haha. I'm definitely going to read those you listed though, they sounds incredibly interesting.

[April Ann]

This one seems to be a bit of a toughie. Would you happen to know the ethnic background of the author, or if it was male or female? I think I'm going to have to look under "adult" and there's a couple of hundred hits to sort through.

Also was it set in Germany, Poland or some other European country?

[April Ann]

Zoli A Novel by Colum McCann, 2007.

Maybe too recent but it does cover Romani's being forced to relocate to high rise apartments. It's base on the life of a real life poet.

[Nicola]

I'm sure it was a European country originally, maybe romania or slovakia and then she moved to high rise apartments in maybe England? Zoli Isn't the book either :(

[April Ann]

My Grandmother's Journey by Johm Cech.

[Nicola]

Not that one either :( The front cover *may* have had a girl in red on the cover.

[April Ann]

Gypsy in the Cellar by Bonni Highsmith Taylor, 1999, 99 pages.

Doreen, a Gypsy, travels around with her grandmother, brother, and uncle, living in tents and abandoned buildings. She rarely attends school and when she does, the children taunt her. When running from the police one day while skipping school, she falls and severely cuts her leg. In pain, lost, and scared, she hides in a root cellar belonging to two elderly ladies; they find her and care for her. When they cannot find her family, Doreen becomes their foster child, attends school, and makes friends. Eventually, she is reunited with her relatives. While the plot is fairly well developed, the first-person narrative is contrived and choppy. The setting, which is essential to understanding the story, is in the late 1930s/early `40s, but the few clues that are given are unlikely to be picked up by young readers

[Nicola]

Not that one either :(

[Nicola]

I found it! It was Pictures From The Fire by Gaye Hicyilmaz

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/66...

Thanks for all your help though :)

[April Ann]

I'm glad you found it! Funny, that one never came up in a search. It doesn't always work! :)

I think I know the title of just about every "gypsy" book out there now though! ;)

[Nicola]

haha me too :) I'd seriously recommend you read the book it left me in tears and I've ordered it from my library to read again :D

Thanks again x