the girl in the painted caravan

All credit goes to its owner!!!!

Eva Petulengro is a member of the last generation of true Romany gypsies. She spent her childhood on the road with her family in their beautiful painted caravan, before going on to become one of the country's leading clairvoyants and astrologers, with many famous clients. Today she lives in Brighton near her three sons, Warren, Bradley and Gregory, and her daughter Claire, who followed the family tradition and us a popular astrologer and author.

Born into a Romany gypsy family in 1939, Eva Petulengro's childhood seemed to her to be idyllic in every way. She would travel the country with her family in their painted caravan and spend evenings by the fire as they sang and told stories of their past. She didn't go to school or visit a doctor when she was unwell. Instead her family would gather wild herbs to make traditional remedies, hunt game and rabbits for food, and while the man tended horses to make a living, the young girls would join the woman in reading palms. But in the post-war era, Eva's perfect world would be turned upside down...

Eva describes the wonderful characters in her family, from her grandfather 'Naughty' Petulengro to her five beautiful aunts who entranced everyone they met, as well as the fascinating people they came across on the road. Moving and evocative, "The girl in the Painted Caravan" vividly captures a way of life that has now, sadly, all but disappeared.