Duke of Egypt: A Novel

Flame-haired Lucie raises horses on her father’s farm. One summer day, she meets a dark, handsome stranger named Joseph, and it is love at first sight. But their union is as improbable as their love is deep. For Joseph is a wanderer, a full-blooded gypsy for whom all of Europe is a stomping ground. Despite their cultural differences, they marry, have three children, and lead a normal life—with one exception: each spring, Joseph takes to the road to return to his other family, the gypsies, scattered to the four corners of Europe.

More than a moving love story, Duke of Egypt is an exploration of gypsy identity, as revealed over centuries and across continents through the stories that Joseph tells to his wife. It is a tale of glory overshadowed always by grim reality that led to the gates of Auschwitz. Yet when the private world of Joseph and Lucie is threatened, the strength of their love and the strength of the gypsy spirit fuse to lift their story onto a shimmering new plane.