Lola's Luck

A stunning personal story of life among the Gypsies in America. Lola's Luck introduces a remarkable woman who drew a young anthropologist into her colorful society and changed her life. Lola's story, "the story of the world!" tells of luck, kinship, love and an entire world hidden from view. With estimates between fifty thousand and more than a million, the Gypsy population is as mysterious as their ways, and vast amounts of misinformation swirl around them like so much painted fabric. With remarkable vividness, Lola's Luck peers behind the curtain, past the paisley walls and twinkling lights to find the authentic story of an extraordinary woman, Lola "expert advisor on love, business and marriage." A Machvanka of Serbian Gypsy background, Lola revealed her story from traveling in caravans across America in her youth, to navigating extended families and complex rituals, to taking in the new elements of her American environment. Here is a fresh response to the stereotypes that surround Gypsies, a traditional culture trying to keep itself alive in the face of American values and capitalism.