An unforgettable love story, brimming with passion and politics, set over fifty years in Trinidad – a place at times enchanting, and at times highl...
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May 13, 2011
Chrissie
rated it: 
NO SPOILERS!!!
I finished this book last night, before I went to bed, but it is still night or early, early morning. 3:30 AM to be precise! I cannot sleep. I keep thinking abut this book and how I shhould explain why I adore it. It swallowed me, sucked on me, swished me around, pounded me and then spit me out. Or have you ever been tumbled and beaten by a crashing wave? When you escape, thrown up on shore, dizzy, without footing, tousled, pummelled; that is another way of describing h More...
I finished this book last night, before I went to bed, but it is still night or early, early morning. 3:30 AM to be precise! I cannot sleep. I keep thinking abut this book and how I shhould explain why I adore it. It swallowed me, sucked on me, swished me around, pounded me and then spit me out. Or have you ever been tumbled and beaten by a crashing wave? When you escape, thrown up on shore, dizzy, without footing, tousled, pummelled; that is another way of describing h More...
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Aug 07, 2011
Adanma
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It frightens me that this novel could be nominated for an internationally recognized literary award. I have given it two stars only for its offering of a rare snapshot of Trinidadian daily life before 1990. This snapshot however is on a purely superficial level, with fantastic imagery but nearly juvenile insight. Not only does it present a completely false and warped idea of race relations on the island, but it does so in a very self-indulgent manner, as if to justify racism and colonial attitud
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Jan 14, 2012
Ardene
rated it: 
The white woman on the green bicycle by Monique Roffey was an intriguing read set in Trinidad. Wish my head wasn't so stufffed up so I could think more clearly about the structure and voice of this novel.
Sabine is the white woman on the green bicycle, and it's her voice that comes through most clearly. She and her husband George come to Trinidad in 1957 from England (George is British, Sabine is French).
The novel covers the handover of Trinidad from a British protectorate to More...
Sabine is the white woman on the green bicycle, and it's her voice that comes through most clearly. She and her husband George come to Trinidad in 1957 from England (George is British, Sabine is French).
The novel covers the handover of Trinidad from a British protectorate to More...
Aug 13, 2011
Kathleen
rated it:
The violence in the opening pages, reflective of all the cumulative layers of what had gone wrong or stayed wrong in Trinidad, almost kept me from continuing. By page 7, I was riveted, sweating in the relentless heat described and uneasy about the blimp hanging over the Port of Spain.
I cared deeply about the characters in this book. In 1956, a young married couple arrives in Trinidad for a three year contract in an English company not at all prepared for the life that awaits them. More...
I cared deeply about the characters in this book. In 1956, a young married couple arrives in Trinidad for a three year contract in an English company not at all prepared for the life that awaits them. More...
Dec 02, 2010
Fleur
rated it:
I didn’t come across The White Woman on the Green Bicycle until it appeared on the longlist for the Orange Prize for Fiction.
I wasn’t sure that it would be my sort of book, but I heard so much praise that I really had to order a copy.
Since then it appeared on the shortlist, and now that I have read it I have to say that I would be thrilled to see it win. A wonderful book!
It tells the story of one woman, her life and marriage, and wraps around it the story of T More...
I wasn’t sure that it would be my sort of book, but I heard so much praise that I really had to order a copy.
Since then it appeared on the shortlist, and now that I have read it I have to say that I would be thrilled to see it win. A wonderful book!
It tells the story of one woman, her life and marriage, and wraps around it the story of T More...
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Jul 24, 2010
LitAddictedBrit
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I originally bought this on a binge induced by the release of the Orange Prize for Fiction (UK) shortlist 2010 as the books were *ahem* on offer but I was really taken by the idea of a story exploring the background of Trinidad - a country I would admit I know little about.
What I will give this book credit for is it's incredible descriptions of either a wildly compelling Trinidad or a hot and oppressive Trinidad. The scenery was beautiful and by far my favourite aspect of the book. T More...
What I will give this book credit for is it's incredible descriptions of either a wildly compelling Trinidad or a hot and oppressive Trinidad. The scenery was beautiful and by far my favourite aspect of the book. T More...
May 17, 2010
Jennifer
rated it:
This book was an excellent distraction on my seven hour flight home from the UK today. Roffey beautifully delivers Trinidad - first in its modern day state and then in its various revolutionary phases over several decades of political turmoil. In the middle of it all are Sabine and George Harwood. George takes a position in an international company and falls in love with the island. His wife Sabine agrees to the initial three year commitment but finds herself trapped by the island's hold on
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Apr 27, 2010
Adele
rated it:
Monique Roffey: A White Woman, A Green Bicycle, and the Orange Prize
It came as no surprise to me to hear Monique Roffey had been shortlisted for the Orange Prize for her novel The White Woman on the Green Bicycle. As soon as I received it for review I knew I was in for a treat and I wasn’t disappointed. Roffey is surely one of the best women novelists around and this tale of Trinidad is as irresistible as her earlier work.
Her first novel, Sun Dog, tempted me to buy it aft More...
It came as no surprise to me to hear Monique Roffey had been shortlisted for the Orange Prize for her novel The White Woman on the Green Bicycle. As soon as I received it for review I knew I was in for a treat and I wasn’t disappointed. Roffey is surely one of the best women novelists around and this tale of Trinidad is as irresistible as her earlier work.
Her first novel, Sun Dog, tempted me to buy it aft More...
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Apr 15, 2011
Heather
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I felt so comfortable reading this book. The words flowed on the page into my head and it just seemed right. I've never been to Trinidad, though I did live on the island of St. Vincent a few hundred miles to the north. While very different countries, some of the lifestyle and politics appeared familiar.
In 1956 newly weds George and Sabine Harwood emigrate to Trinidad after George receives a promotion. He immediately falls in love with the island while Sabine can't wait to More...
In 1956 newly weds George and Sabine Harwood emigrate to Trinidad after George receives a promotion. He immediately falls in love with the island while Sabine can't wait to More...
Jul 28, 2011
Elli
rated it: 
Actually between 2.5 and 3, possibly even more and less. There is alot of upheaval in this story well beyond a fifty year span starting at the end of colonial system going into a self government. It is a story mainly through the eyes of a couple who come as practically youngsters newly married and end up staying all their lives. Looking for new leadership and new more democratic ideals was part of it for the local population, alot of them not really realizing that one "Massa" can be
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Jun 25, 2011
Ellen
rated it:
Monique Roffey's The White Woman on the Green Bicycle is a book that doesn't seem to know what to do with itself; it has ideas, but it declares this so openly that no part of the novel is allowed to naturally take root in the reader's mind. Roffey's novel, about a couple from England, Sabine and George, living in Trinidad, opens with the pair in their seventies, entrenched in what seems a decades-long loathing of one another, an obsession with their physical decline, and an endless rehashing of
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Nov 29, 2011
Elaine
rated it:
Oh dear, seccond book in a row that I rapidly flipped pages hoping to get to the end. Where to start? The main character is fundamentally unlikeable -- her political (and it seems?) sexual obssession with Trinidad's first prime minister is almost inpenetrably contradictory -- she wants a better life for Trinidad's black population who she knows only as servants and violent "others" or worse b/c she hates the island and hates not wanting to be wanted by it? (Plus as an aside all the
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Oct 20, 2010
Beth
rated it:
Most memorable book from my summer reading.
A young expat wife arrives in Trinidad in the early 1960s, just as the British are withdrawing. She finds that she is sympathetic to the political/social aims of Eric Williams and the newly formed national party (ie,non-white Trinis) . . . just as her English husband is falling in love with the other rich assets of island life (rum, beautiful women, cheap property).
The novel is about a long marriage -- but also, and in a related More...
A young expat wife arrives in Trinidad in the early 1960s, just as the British are withdrawing. She finds that she is sympathetic to the political/social aims of Eric Williams and the newly formed national party (ie,non-white Trinis) . . . just as her English husband is falling in love with the other rich assets of island life (rum, beautiful women, cheap property).
The novel is about a long marriage -- but also, and in a related More...
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Dec 09, 2011
Bea
rated it:
I think I would give this a 3 1/2 because I never did understand the relationship between the wife, Sabine and her husband, George. Why did she stay? What drew them to each other? Maybe someone else can read this and get those answers.
The book begins in Trinidad, where an English couple has been living for 50 years, raised two children, bought land and built a house. She has always hated it there, he has always loved it. The book is filled with racial tension. Sabine has written tons o More...
The book begins in Trinidad, where an English couple has been living for 50 years, raised two children, bought land and built a house. She has always hated it there, he has always loved it. The book is filled with racial tension. Sabine has written tons o More...
Aug 06, 2011
J.L.
rated it:
George and Sabine Harwood arrive in Trinidad from England in 1956. Sabine expects they will depart in three years as planned. Instead, they never leave because George falls in love with the island. In the interim, she writes letters to Dr. Eric Williams, who becomes Prime Minister. None of the letters are ever sent and George gets jealous when he finds them decades later. His desire to rekindle her love and respect has him taking foolish, but brave action that yields little results.
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Aug 03, 2011
Trish
rated it:
The excitement of discovering this book was one I have not felt for years. It is all the things great literature should be: it shows as well as teaches; it is recognizable but fresh; it is on some level profound; it is memorable. The book is written in dialect, and it was a revelation to me to see phrases I’d only ever heard actually written down. It added much to the general impression of the first section of the book as a stage play. And a wonderful, rich, funny, tragic stage play it would be
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Dec 18, 2010
Nitya
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Oct 01, 2010
Joan
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Sabine and George Harwood come to Trinidad in 1956 from England. This novel takes the reader through the evolution of Trinidad from British colony to modern (if not badly functioning) democracy. Trinidad is multi-racial and tropical, which George immediately loves. Sabine never adjusts and I am not sure why, which is what this novel is mainly about. Guilt about being white? Anger at the ongoing poverty/corruption/crime? Somehow she is able to mentally fight this move for 50 years and continues
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Aug 05, 2011
Book club choice for this month - I am never sure about books with reversed timelines and I cannot see why the author chose to tell the story in this manner. It did not anything positive to the book .
I enjoyed the first half of the book, the history of Trinidad is quite interesting and it is full of beautiful descriptive passages. But the second half left me perplexed, there was enough information in the first half about the characters' early lives and i would have prefered to keep reading about More...
I enjoyed the first half of the book, the history of Trinidad is quite interesting and it is full of beautiful descriptive passages. But the second half left me perplexed, there was enough information in the first half about the characters' early lives and i would have prefered to keep reading about More...
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Aug 06, 2011
I can honestly say that I began this book very tentatively. As a Trinidadian living overseas, I am keenly familiar with the impact of negative stereotyping and ignorance on how peoples and nations are perceived. I honestly did not wish to read a novel that in any way bought into any false representation of my country and its beautiful, progressive, intelligent, fun loving, hard working people! I was also a bit weary of mixing fact with fiction in the way that was done here. It is so easy to simp
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Oct 06, 2011
P J
rated it:
When I was at school the cadet force was pretty much obligatory. I was not a natural young soldier and together with a handful of other hopeless cases I was placed in a section led by the boy who was also my form monitor, Gordon ‘Gundi’ Green. We were known as ‘Gundi’s Guerillas’ and on cadet afternoons we were carefully segregated and if there was to be a visit by the brigadier we were hidden under the school stage and left to clean our old Lee-Enfield 303s. Gundi was a big Trinidadian and he w
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Jul 02, 2011
Zen
rated it:
Let me start by saying that I rarely like books about colonialists living in luxury among poor natives, whining about their sad lives the whole time. I hated Out of Africa. But The White Woman on the Green Bicycle is something else. While it dragged a bit at times, I stuck with it and was rewarded by being completely immersed in a world of love amid culture clash, political unrest and the intimate story of a woman and her marriage. All the while believing that her time in Trinidad will be limite
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Sep 01, 2011
Naeem
rated it:
The Pulp-fiction-esque structure ( I an referring to the film) doesn't work for me. The first part, which is the most temporally up to date, was frustrating; the second part, which is the beginning of the story was the most pleasing and elegant. The third part, I am just not sure what to make of.
The book has strengths. Its micro/macro politics weaving is excellent. You certainly get a sense of the history of Trinidad. I especially like that Eric Williams is a major character. F More...
The book has strengths. Its micro/macro politics weaving is excellent. You certainly get a sense of the history of Trinidad. I especially like that Eric Williams is a major character. F More...
Apr 18, 2010
Darryl
rated it:
This novel begins in contemporary Trinidad, and its main character is Sabine Harwood, a French woman who has been married to her handsome but mediocre English husband George for 50 years. At the beginning of their marriage she agreed to move to Trinidad with him for a three year period, so long as they could move back to the UK after his contract ended. George instantly fell in love with the island, as he was able to make a place for himself as a white man with little competition in a segregated
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Aug 24, 2011
Louise
rated it:
This book deserves its shortlisting for the Orange Prize for Fiction.
One of the most interesting things about the book is that the end of the story is told first. I was sure that would make me lose interest but it did just the opposite, making me more curious as to how it could arrive at the ending I already knew.
This is the story of Trinidad in the second half of the twentieth century through the eyes of an foreign born couple, French Sabine and her English husband, George. More...
One of the most interesting things about the book is that the end of the story is told first. I was sure that would make me lose interest but it did just the opposite, making me more curious as to how it could arrive at the ending I already knew.
This is the story of Trinidad in the second half of the twentieth century through the eyes of an foreign born couple, French Sabine and her English husband, George. More...
Sep 12, 2011
Telly
rated it:
This is the most disappointing post-colonial book I have read, and likely because it is told through the eyes of absolutely detestable white characters for whom I could find no empathy on account of their endlessly annoying and irreverent behavior, not to mention their ignorant back-and-forth prejudice.
What kept me reading this book, however, was the author's creative descriptions and storytelling, the never ending turmoil and political upheaval, and the sudden shift to first person More...
What kept me reading this book, however, was the author's creative descriptions and storytelling, the never ending turmoil and political upheaval, and the sudden shift to first person More...
May 25, 2010
Teresa
rated it:
As Meera Syal once aptly put it, “Life isn’t all ha ha hee hee” and so, I should not expect all my reading experiences to wow me so I have to accept that this perfectly good novel just doesn’t hit the spot for me.
The novel covers 50 years in post-war Trinidad and focuses on the relationship between Sabine and George Harwood, who have very different experiences of expat life. The structure of the story is unusual in that we have the denouement at the start of the novel which focuse More...
The novel covers 50 years in post-war Trinidad and focuses on the relationship between Sabine and George Harwood, who have very different experiences of expat life. The structure of the story is unusual in that we have the denouement at the start of the novel which focuse More...
Jun 05, 2010
Philippa
rated it:
A beautiful, evocative and captivating tale. Roffey is a wonderful writer, and I can't wait to read her memoir that's coming out soon. I was drawn in by discussions about this book on Twitter (!) and found it transported me from my lunch break in sunny London to sweltering, overpowering Trinidad. I could almost smell the rum and the dust. Her characters are finely drawn and likeable, if not certainly understandable. The novel sketches a portrait of a marriage that has its flaws and cracks t
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Aug 22, 2011
I am never very sure about books that start at the end and work backwards, I can see why Roffey did it because you need to know what happens in order to build any sympathy for George but for me, it didn't work. After the first section I could pretty much piece the rest together myself and I found the prose turgid and not particularly well written. Her political history of Trinidad is interesting and there are some good points made about the British and our political tactics which made the book
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Aug 18, 2011
Judy
rated it:
Opening in 2006, the plot flashes back to 1956 when British newlyweds George and Sabine settle in Trinidad. Hang in there, because two more parts set in 1963 and 1970 flesh out the the couple's relationship with each other, their servants, other white residents and with Trinidad itself.
Sabine's resistance to her role in this Third World country settled by slave owners and now ruled by corrupt politicians and thugs is at the center of this fascinating novel. Shortlisted for the 2010 Orange More...
Sabine's resistance to her role in this Third World country settled by slave owners and now ruled by corrupt politicians and thugs is at the center of this fascinating novel. Shortlisted for the 2010 Orange More...
