Rabbit Stew and a Penny or Two cover art

Rabbit Stew and a Penny or Two

A Gypsy Family’s Hard and Happy Times on the Road in the 1950s

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Rabbit Stew and a Penny or Two

By: Maggie Smith-Bendell
Narrated by: Patience Tomlinson
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About this listen

Born on a Somerset pea-field in 1941, the second of eight children in a Romani family, Maggie Smith-Bendell has lived through the years of greatest change in the travelling community's long history. As a child, Maggie rode and slept in a horse-drawn wagon, picked hops and flowers, and sat beside her father's campfire on ancient verges, poor but free to roam. As the twentieth century progressed, common land was fenced off and the traditional ways disappeared.

Eventually Maggie married a house-dweller and tried to settle for bricks and mortar, but she never lost the restless spirit, the deep love of the land and the gift for storytelling that were her Romani inheritance.

©2009 Maggie Smith-Bendell (P)2010 Isis Publishing Ltd Cultural & Regional Heartfelt Feel-Good

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Thoroughly enjoyed listening to Maggie reliving her life and telling it how it was through the hard and the good of a Romany travellers bygone way of life. Sad that those traditions and cultural ways will be lost due to ignorance and modern ideals. Lovely that Maggie has chose to share those memories so we can have an idea of what it was like to be a true Romany traveller .

bygone times

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it's such a shame that the travelling communities are treated this way, seeing their way of life through a young child's perspective realising that it is a cultural difference and a way of life, threaten by our laws which are suppose to protect people from discrimination.

a good read

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A good insight to traveller life on the road. Some interesting happy and sad tales.

An interesting read

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Where does Rabbit Stew and a Penny or Two rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It was the first so I am looking forward to listening to more the same sort of story

What was one of the most memorable moments of Rabbit Stew and a Penny or Two?

listening about the old granny and remembering back to my childhood

Have you listened to any of Patience Tomlinson’s other performances? How does this one compare?

no not yet

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

yes

Any additional comments?

loved it

Great audio version

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A very well written and documented story of the gypsy and traveler communities and their struggles with local authority’s who don’t want them in their communities. I have worked with and for gypsy’s / travellers and never had anything but admiration for them. I would stand up for them against a lot of so called Christian community’s.

Moving story of travellers and their struggles

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The narration was a bit annoying but presumably was agreed by the author in which case okay with me. I thought she made the characters sound a bit silly. However I thoroughly enjoyed the book

Very informative and enjoyable

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My village in Hertfordshire always welcomed the gypsy families, I never saw my mother use a single peg on her washing which wasn't made and sold by those lovely old ladies of the road.

Great book, took me back some years.

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I loved this book that much I bought it in paperback brilliantly read. the lady that reads the book makes it feel like your there with them I highly recommend it to you all

brilliant

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a lovely story of a Romany family and their way of life throught the eyes of their daughter

Good read

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Beautiful written book about the hardships of being a Romany traveler and about are culture Maggie is a true inspiration.

Cushty

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