MY NAME IS ROSE

Rose is a ten-year old Gypsy girl from Romania. The story opens with Rose living a happy and content nomadic life with her loving family. However, in Chapter 2 Rose’s world collides with the rich, opulent world of the ‘gadje’ (non-Gypsy people). A rich businessman named Mr Luca crashes his car into the gypsy caravan, killing Rose’s entire family. Racked with guilt, Mr and Mrs Luca take Rose home with them to England. Torn away from everything she ever loved and knew, Rose feels out of place and lost in the Luca’s mansion. So traumatised by the crash, Rose becomes mute, not speaking a word for the entire story. The Luca family is a hostile, cold place for Rose. Mr Luca resents Rose and his daughter Victoria despises her. Even Mrs Luca regards the gypsy girl as nothing more than ‘a project’ to appease her conscience. When Rose seems to have reached rock bottom, events take a turn when her musical ability is discovered. Rose begins to recover her identity which leads to the climatic end.