Product Description

Orphan Polly Anna finds love and acceptance with a colourful travelling fair, becoming a horserider and acrobat. Set against the backdrop of the Yorkshire Wolds, this saga spans three generations.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #96345 in Books
• Published on: 1998-08-06
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 536 pages

From the Back Cover
Polly Anna could not remember her father, and after her mother died, in poverty, when Polly Anna was just three, the workhouse was the only place for her. Helped by Jonty, a young misfit who became her best friend, she ran away with the fairground folk and became a horserider and acrobat - travelling to Bartholomew Fair, Nottingham Goose Fair and Hull Fair. Her friends became the circus people and the gypsies, and her home the caravans and tents of the travellers.

Meanwhile, in a great house in the Yorkshire Wolds, old Mrs Winthrop had never given up hope of finding her daughter, who eloped with a handsome Romany and was never seen again. Her young neighbour Richard Crossley set out to find the missing daughter, and discovered the colourful world of the fairs and the gypsies. He also discovered Polly Anna - once the waif from the workhouse, and now a fully-fledged Romani Chi - the Romany girl.

About the Author
Valerie Wood
Valerie Wood was born in Yorkshire and now lives in a village near the east coast. She is the author of The Hungry Tide, winner of the Catherine Cookson Prize for fiction, and also Annie, Children of the Tide, The Romany Girl, Emily, Going Home and Rosa's Island.

Customer Reviews

Good
A good read. Romantic and informative. Valerie Wood painted a picture of the meagre and often cruel conditions in the workhouse system, which bordered on the seedier side of life in those times. When Polly Anna finds herself in the workhouse at the age of 3 Jonty befriends her and their adventures continue... enjoyed this book it, opened up information from another culture and world.