Beloved Vagabond

One of two gypsy themed books that I am rereading. I really enjoyed this one better than [b:The Bartered Bride|13481412|The Bartered Bride|Margaret Rome|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1329016540s/13481412.jpg|14112435]. That one had a lot of dated political stuff in it. This one concentrated firmly on the main couple.

Fair Warning: This one is totally non PC. There is kidnapping, rape, spanking and probably some Stockholm syndrome. The heroine spouts stereotypical racial slurs over and over. She did have some slight justification the first time but should have followed the 'if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all' rule early and often. But we are looking back on things from 30 years on and PCness does show more change and grow and that's usually a good thing. Still I think this might have been the author's views a bit since the hero never let her out to mingle with the gypsies and seemed to be ashamed of them himself.

So I'm giving this one 4 stars for the OTT old skool crazy of it all. This guy really kidnapped her and raped her although he did marry her first. The rape scenes, and there are more than one, are all pretty much closed door. He was one of those who was all 'why do you say things that you know will force me to lose my temper and assault you?' I think in reality Anne Hampson was writing about a guy who was probably into BDSM in a world where that sort of thing was not accepted in main stream fiction.

So super crazy for all you lovers of vintage WTFery. show less