When Hannah Lakin's father dies in 1894, she leaves her emotionally distant mother and twin sister Emily behind in New Hampshire, and journeys to Wales, where she becomes the governess to the Bryant family. It is here, while walking in the hills around Rockport, that Hanni (as she is now known) meets and falls in love with Welsh sheep-farmer David Morgan. After marrying, Hanni goes to live at Morgan's Ground, a farm lying just beneath Carn Gwelli, in "the shadow of the mountain." It is the mountain and its eerie magic, as well as the periodic visits of the Locks - a family of Romanies (gypsies) that come to define the three main periods of Hanni's life...

The Romany feature frequently in children's literature - everything from Lloyd Alexander's Gypsy Rizka, Rumer Godden's The Diddakoi, to Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. I am not well enough informed about Romany culture to determine what is and is not an accurate portrayal - but their treatment in An Old Magic felt respectful to me (a real relief - I was not looking forward to having to pan a Ruth Arthur novel). First, they are referred to as "Romany," not gypsies. Second, although Hanni is distrustful at first, her mother-in-law assures her that the Locks are honorable, hard-working people, whatever cultural differences might exist. It is to Arthur's credit that she does not try to gloss over those differences - nor does the narrative always invite you to sympathize with the Locks. Third, Arthur never states or implies that the Romany would be better off if they would only "settle down" somewhere. I mention all of this because of the many portrayals of the Romany in literature as thieving and child-kidnapping villains on the one hand, or overly romantic bohemian wanderers on the other.

In conclusion: well worth reading, especially for Ruth M. Arthur fans. Hanni's story was engaging, and the brooding/looming mountain was reminiscent of the Brenin Llwyd in Susan Cooper's The Grey King. My only quibble was with the inclusion of Northern Irish terrorism in the Dulcie Harris storyline at the end - I felt that this should have either been fleshed out more, or left out altogether. ( )

9/2011 Re-read. I have loved this book forever, it seems, with its haunting Romany violin that I can almost hear as I read. Hanni's story weaves around and through the Romany people who come and go on her adopted farm, Morgan's Ground. Arthur's so good at communicating emotion and magic in a few evocative words. A wonderful story, masterfully told.


4/2008 Re-read, of course. I adore stories that touch on the Romany way of life, and this one is no exception. It also has some of the spooky bits that Arthur is renowned for. It's multi-generational and most wonderful. This is one of my favorites of all of Arthur's works- it embraces the numinous and the mundane with equal fervor.
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This book follows several generations of a family in Wales who live on a sheep farm, and the interaction that they have with a band of gypsies who return every few years to camp on their land. Each generation knows love and loss, and Arthur always manages to skillfully weave mystery and magic into the story, in this case how a gypsy talisman is tied to each generation.

I didn't ejoy this book as much as Arthur's other books I have read. Perhaps it was because the scope of the novel covered almost 90 years in only 175 pages. That means that there was a lot of glossing over of major events like WWI and II.

Also, since this book was written from the viewpoint of several characters, I was disappointed that none of the characters who narrated the story were anyone from the gypsy camp. I think Arthur could have integrated more information and description about the gypsies into the story.

But one thing that Arthur does do very artfully in this novel is turn the story around from those who are content to stay tethered to a farm for generations, to those who feel the call to wander the world, and shows that no matter what your heritage, that you have to follow the call in your heart. ( )