Alice Ferney Angelina's Children

Angelina's Children

Alice Ferney

Bitter Lemon, Oct 2005, $13.95

ISBN: 1904738109

Though they have not left French soil in four centuries, the Gypsies have always been nomadic; however modern society with its demands on documents, makes moving around quite difficult, so this particular band headed by a widow, settles down in an abandoned garden.

The townsfolk are irate that these filthy squatters reside nearby. However, the Gypsy matriarch Angelina, her five sons, her four daughter-in-laws, and her grandchildren, ignore the pressure to leave. One townie, librarian Esther Duvaux, begins arriving at the encampment to read stories to the children; though Angelina's sons, especially the oldest and unmarried Angelo, assumes the worst of their persistent visitor. However, his mother, seeing deep inside the soul of Esther, realizes the librarian risks the wrath of her family, friends, and neighbors, out of a desire to help the itinerant children; she challenges everyone including the gypsies, to allow the oldest grandchild to attend school. The locals want Angelina, her children, and grandchildren to leave and settle near someone else's home.

ANGELINA'S CHILDREN is an excellent tale that condemns the hypocrisy of western society's claims of a melting pot that welcomes the poor, downtrodden etc... The welcome mat extends, as long as the masses fit into a safe restricted comfort zone defined by the insiders. Think how many of us support rehab. centers, just not on our block, or encourage building that nuclear reactor on a ranch in Crawford, Texas, to supply us in Georgia. Esther is a courageous individual defying everyone to forge a friendship with Angelina, while the secondary ensemble displays the mutual distrust between the Gypsies and the local French. Alice Ferney provides a thought-provoking tale about hugging differences rather than spitting on them.