Village landlords force peasants to break their backs in the paddy fields or suffer beatings as punishment. So it is little wonder that the communist party begins to gain traction, a small spark of defiance spreading from villager to villager. As communities across the region begin to take a stand against the landlords, the landlords vow to break them: party organizers suffer grisly deaths and the flow of marketplace food dries up. But intimidation only serves to make the villagers' resistance burn more fiercely. Finally, the landlords descend on one village to set an example to the others. The Gypsy Goddess is brilliantly original, ferociously angry and, at times, laugh-out-loud funny.