Fires in the Dark

by Louise Doughty

Book Overview

Fires In the Dark reveals the highly secretive and misunderstood world of the coppersmith gypsies. In 1927, when prosperity still reigns in Central Europe, Yenko is born to two Coppersmith Gypsies. His parents, Josef and Anna, are nomads who raise their son during the relative calm of the Great Depression of the 1930s. Soon, though, dangerous times threaten to unsettle their family, as their heritage makes them vulnerable targets for ethnic cleansing...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060571233
• ISBN13: 9780060571238
• Release Date: January 2005
• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Length: 496 Pages
• Weight: 0.86 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.3" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

Fires in the Dark: A Novel

This book opened my eyes on how gypsie life was. Their traditions and meals, and marriage. I also learned how much they suffered in the holocaust. They were also put in camps and starved and died from disease.

Educational and profound ...

I knew gypsies were ill-treated and that they were also a culture scooped up for elimination as part of Hitler's solution(s), but this wonderful novel gives background detail to a culture that except for Dracula movies and an occasional mention in a WWII documentary is utterly ignored. Fires in the Dark is a wonderfully told story about the plight of a family reduced to a single member and his (their) determination to survive a world gone mad. This is one to READ, amici ... we should all READ and this one is a MUST READ.

"We are becoming more forbidden with each passing day."

Set primarily during the turbulent era of the Second World War, FIRES IN THE DARK tells the tale of one innocent family targeted for persecution by the Nazi Germans. Yenko's family of Coppersmith Gypsies have spent generations traveling throughout Central Europe while practicing their trade. Although there has always been a distrust between gypsies and "gadjos", or whites, certainly no one was prepared for what lay ahead for them as gypsies throughout Europe were imprisoned in the horrid conditions of work camps. What follows is an emotional narrative of Yenko and his family during this horrific time. Throughout the years I have read many accounts, both fiction and non-fiction, of the Holocaust but sadly my exposure to the persecution of gypsies and their specific history during this era was greatly lacking before I read this book. I am now indebted to Louise Doughty for successfully bringing the sorrowing story of Yenko and his family to life and therefore casting light on this under acknowledged population that was oppressed by Hitler and his thugs. Eliminate the unplausible ending and FIRES IN THE DARK would warrant its literary praise.

The best read in a long time

This book caught my attention on the first page and it hasn't ended yet. It opened my eyes to yet another view of WWII. It has interesting characters and a wonderful story line. I could see the countryside and feel their pain. I would read this book again.

The Roma Holocaust..........brilliantly told

Louise Doughty crafts a fascinating novel that tells the tale of the Roma (European gypsies) that were rounded up by the Germans and placed in concentration camps. The story revolves around Emil, the first born son of the leader of a nomadic family and how he learns to cope with the nightmare that Hitler created. The daily life is beyond tortuous and yet people continue to struggle to survive. As the nightmarish existence whittles away family and friends, Emil responds with a will to survive that is barely imaginable in the face of such horror.Fires In The Dark is a story of tradition, family and hope. It is also a story of man's inhumanity to man and the depths to which humanity can both sink and rise. Most of all it is a story of the desire to survive above all odds.Within this story the author reveals the lifestyle of the Roma,and although much is told there is so much more.This is a fascinating look at a much ignored population and is both inspiring and horrifying.

Fascinating and riveting

This intense, sometimes brutal novel of the internment of Gypsies in concentration camps during Hitler's ethnic cleaning crusade is riveting. The beginning of the book portrays the Roma gypsy's customs, kinship, travel and home life in a very enlightening manner. In a reversal of how gypsies are commonly portrayed, we learn that they are indeed a prideful, skilled and religious people who,in fact, feel that the gadje (anyone who is not Roma) are unclean, slovenly and disgusting. From the time of their imprisonment, we follow Josef's family, Anna his wife, Emil his oldest son and two younger children as they battle to survive.I think that this is fascinating historical fiction. My only complaint is that the middle section of the book drags a bit too long but the ending is great. Masterful writing and pitch perfect historical detail should draw many readers