In January 1990, William Blacker drove from England through Eastern Europe to see what life was like in new post-Communist era. He wanted to see the painted monasteries of Moldavia, Romania. When he got there he was astonished to find “wooden peasant cottages on the edge of forests inhabited by wolves and bears… snow and sledges and sheepskin coats… country people in embroidered smocks and headscarves.”
Blacker returned in 1996 to live and work alongside Romanians, Saxons and Gypsies for eight years. This is an affectionate, moving account of a traditional way of life on the cusp of modernity.
[100 words]
DH
William Blacker returns to Romania to visit his son: http://gu.com/p/2yzq
Longer reviews:
http://theresident.greatbritishlife.co.uk/article/william-blacker-an-enchanted-life-18459/
http://www.spectator.co.uk/books/3755053/the-lure-of-the-gypsies.thtml