NUNCIO & THE GYPSY GIRL

TITLE: NUNCIO & THE GYPSY GIRL

          IN THE GILDED AGE

AUTHOR: KRISTIN KUHNS ALEXANDRE

ARTIST: THOMAS LOEPP

Date: 09/04/2012

Grade: 4-

Details: Graphic Novel / e-book

            Review copy

Own

“Nuncio and the Gypsy Girl” tells the story of Ezra a young composer entranced by the gypsy life-style and their music and Neci  a wild and single-minded gypsy girl who decides that Ezra is the man for her.

Ezra however feels that Neci it too young for him and leaves the gypsies to further his musical career.

While away Ezra meets Marlene, a young woman and talented pianist and soon the two become very close, much to Neci’s despair. Ezra and Marlene work their music in the company of some of the inspirational men who would make America into the great power it turned in to, like Elbert Hubbard and Orville Wright.

Although it seems to Ezra that he and Marlene are made for each other and the two get engaged, there is a much darker side to this woman, a side that could cost Neci dearly.

This is a fascinating story set at the start of the 20^th century while the world is preparing for war and big changes both in technology and in the structure of society itself.

Being a love story with gypsies at its heart, this story contains both mystical aspects and historical fact, which gives it an added dimension.

I’m not entirely sure how I feel about the fact that the story is told by Nuncio, a parrot belonging to Neci. While it facilitates a wider point of view, it also takes the story into the realm of fairytales. Since this story is based on the lives of real people, I’m not sure how effective it is to present it as a fantasy tale.

The drawings in this graphic novel are wonderful. They tell the story as much as the dialogues do and in a very successful way.

Overall I have to say I enjoyed this reading experience, and since the story ended on a massive cliff-hanger I can see myself reading the sequel as well in the future.

On a side note: I read somewhere that you should never start a review with the words “I don’t usually read …” but in this case that is actually true. I rarely if ever read graphic novels, which made it a bit harder for me to rate Nuncio since I have nothing to compare it with.

Like I said above, I enjoyed the story in this book and loved the drawings. In general I have to say though that I prefer my books with far more words and background information than this graphic novel could provide.