Out Of Ordinary People
The Gypsy Curse
In a carnival where a small fraction of Czech Roma try to survive by assimilation into America, it's not who you are; but whose are you. For a Gypsy, Osud, Destiny, plays a large hand in the way of things.
Spirit, blood, inherited gifts, and family lines re everything. Everything must be risked to maintain them. Even breaking taboo to hold tight to your heritage and those you love.
What happens when the line is crossed too far and the taboos broken are against your people, and not for them?
Two women with powerful gifts collide in a battlefield of spilled blood. One vows to control destiny itself by destroying all in her way. The other, to defend her family at all costs, and knows;
Retribution . . . Awaits in another reincarnated lifetime.
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.
Three generations of a Gypsy Curse.
Who will be left when the past catches up?For even a Gypsy curse has to end doesn't it?
From Out Of Ordinary People, sometimes come crimes of passion, when
it's in the blood. As for the Spirit, the only truth is Love. No matter what.
Even at the cost of your soul . . .
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Book Review by Chris Kane-----------reprinted with permission.
Review of Gypsy Curse
From the series Out of Ordinary People, copyright 2007
Gypsy Curse is a hefty work of novelist LA Powers, and as the title promises, the story delves into the intertwined lives of the main characters: Sue, Joe, and Bob. They are the reincarnated hinge pins of a past curse set upon their ancestors in a sticky and meandering love triangle. I’ve read books that don’t do a terrific job of juggling the relationship threads, and you end up feeling tangled in wire. However, Powers leads us down an ever deepening, complex path so that the climatic scene keeps you on edge.
The antagonist, Teta Beta, is an elderly woman of great wisdom and power who curses these characters out of spite. Revenge is a dish best served cold, and Powers does a great job of capturing the pure meanness of Teta Beta’s character. She is everything one would imagine her to be: strong, cunning, wise, and ruthless. It was chilling to realize this woman would stop at nothing and destroy everyone who got in her way of fulfilling the twin destiny. What’s not to like about such a purely evil antagonist? I feel it balanced the genuine good natures of the lovers Sue and Joe. The monstrosity of Teta Beta reveals itself as the story unfolds. Just when you think she can’t get more ruthless, she proves you wrong by continually stomping on the line drawn in the sand. Yet the twin of hate is love….at least initially, until it sours into unrecognizable destruction. We know that Teta Beta’s love for her dead/reincarnated son is what compels her to act the way she does. There is something awful and admirable about her maternal ferocity, if you judge her actions in the context of how much she loves her son. As in, she’ll do anything to avenge him and get him what he wants. Or maybe it’s what she wants because she’s nothing but self serving. At times it is hard to tell, and that makes the storyline interesting by blurring the line.Powers handled the character of the reincarnated son with complexity.
In his present life, Bob doesn’t realize his reincarnated roots and this discovery is thrust upon him. The old soul residing in him basically takes over, leading to inner conflict between the past Golden Child and the present Bob. His character shows many struggles: selfishness vs. selflessness, love vs. indifference, closed heart vs. open heart. Ultimately I felt pity for Bob, as he struck me as being nothing more than a pawn for Teta Beta’s diabolical designs. You could say the past Golden Child was also Teta’s puppet, and I find that sort of maternal manipulation disturbing.
Overall this was a good read, and the Gypsy customs and language is a testament to Power’s eye for authenticity and detail. This is also the first novel I’ve ever read that explores sexuality in a context that serves a true purpose: plot and characterization. Personally I have no problem with anything an author does, as long as it serves the story. The intimacy reflected the ever changing moods and levels of the characters: sometimes it was soft and nurturing, other times lustful, other times a soul connection to the past.
In particular I liked the relationship the wolves had with the Gypsy clan, and the descriptions of Belle made me feel like I stepped back in time. I could see a headstrong, beautiful and exotic young woman who captured the hearts of men. The copper ornaments twinkling in her long hair, the swirling skirts over laughter, the unapologetic sexuality and breaking of custom taboo—all of it captured a freedom and wildness of pure will.Powers conveyed old souls conversing within the mind of the present individual by doing a sort of magical double speak.
This is something I’ve never come across and I found it incredibly creative. The double speak occurred at a climatic scene toward the end, and it left me holding my breath–hoping the elders didn’t catch on and thwart the plan to turn the tables on Teta Beta.
The 429 pages flew by, and Powers handled the theme of revenge, love, self-discovery and culture clashes with finesse.
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