- Paperback: 448 pages
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster Ltd (6 July 2009)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1847375006
- ISBN-13: 978-1847375001
- Product Dimensions: 23 x 15.2 x 3.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (53 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 249,219 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The White Woman on the Green Bicycle
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Product Description
Review
'Heart-rending and thought-provoking, you will never again see the Caribbean as just another holiday destination.'
--Elle Magazine, August issue, 2009
--Elle Magazine, August issue, 2009
Product Description
When George and Sabine Harwood arrive in Trinidad from England George instantly takes to their new life, but Sabine feels isolated, heat-fatigued, and ill at ease with the racial segregation and the imminent dawning of a new era. Her only solace is her growing fixation with Eric Williams, the charismatic leader of Trinidad's new national party, to whom she pours out all her hopes and fears for the future in letters that she never brings herself to send. As the years progress, George and Sabine's marriage endures for better or worse. When George discovers Sabine's cache of letters, he realises just how many secrets she's kept from him - and he from her - over the decades. And he is seized by an urgent, desperate need to prove his love for her, with tragic consequences...
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
107 of 109 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is one of the best books I have read in years. It has everything you want from a novel - incredible use of language, fascinating context (Trinidad's emerging independence) and wonderful characters who stay with you long after the book is finished. Along the way it also tackles colonialism, racism, and the realities of a long marriage with intelligence, wit and poignancy. Oh, and the plot's cracking too. I can't recommend it highly enough.
56 of 57 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Excellent book I am from Trinidad and happen to live in the general area in which the story is set. The story has such a ring of truth to it and at times I could not put it down. The perspective is an interesting one as growing up I only know the black power side of the story so it was very interesting to get a glimpse into what the expats were experiencing at the time. I also enjoyed trying to figure out the characters as I am convinced that I know a few of them. I know that it is fiction but like I said it has such a ring of truth to it. I passed the book onto my mother and she enjoyed it as she could identify more closely with the main character and the events.
68 of 70 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The trouble begins when George and Sabine Harwood, flushed with the glow of a new marriage, arrive in Port of Spain, Trinidad in the mid-1950's. George feels immediately at home in the lush Caribbean island, whereas Sabine hates it and pines for England. But her love for George is fierce as a hurricane. She does her best to adapt; after all, George's contract is only temporary. She's very wrong.
As George falls more and more under the spell of the island and its quirky inhabitants Sabine creates her own world of secrets. Finding herself in an animated crowd listening to Eric Williams, the charismatic political leader, she falls as much under his spell as the restless Trinidadians, and recognises him as not only the island's saviour but, perhaps, her own. When Williams proves to have feet of clay Trinidad erupts into violence. Sabine is devastated; now is surely the time to flee! But the island won't let them go that easily.
Decades later George discovers Sabine's hidden past, and, driven by remorse, tries to put things right. As their marriage crash-lands the two struggle to regain the love they once had, but it might be too late.
Known to most Europeans only as the "big sister" to the holiday island Tobago, Trinidad has a fascinating life of its own. V.S. Naipaul opened a door on that life decades ago; Monique Roffey opens it yet wider, and paints a wonderful picture of a small country with a big and colourful past, a small corner of Britain's crumbling Empire.
Behind the cliché of white Caribbean sands, turquoise sea and cloudless blue skies lie the dark areas, slavery's shadow, and a people resentful of white domination. As that people rise up in anger racism begets racism, and it's time for the hard questions. Monique Roffey asks them fearlessly... but subtly, for Trinidad, the third party in this marriage gone wrong, will seduce the reader as much as she does George
As George falls more and more under the spell of the island and its quirky inhabitants Sabine creates her own world of secrets. Finding herself in an animated crowd listening to Eric Williams, the charismatic political leader, she falls as much under his spell as the restless Trinidadians, and recognises him as not only the island's saviour but, perhaps, her own. When Williams proves to have feet of clay Trinidad erupts into violence. Sabine is devastated; now is surely the time to flee! But the island won't let them go that easily.
Decades later George discovers Sabine's hidden past, and, driven by remorse, tries to put things right. As their marriage crash-lands the two struggle to regain the love they once had, but it might be too late.
Known to most Europeans only as the "big sister" to the holiday island Tobago, Trinidad has a fascinating life of its own. V.S. Naipaul opened a door on that life decades ago; Monique Roffey opens it yet wider, and paints a wonderful picture of a small country with a big and colourful past, a small corner of Britain's crumbling Empire.
Behind the cliché of white Caribbean sands, turquoise sea and cloudless blue skies lie the dark areas, slavery's shadow, and a people resentful of white domination. As that people rise up in anger racism begets racism, and it's time for the hard questions. Monique Roffey asks them fearlessly... but subtly, for Trinidad, the third party in this marriage gone wrong, will seduce the reader as much as she does George
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Quite an eye-opener to Trinidad
I was forced to read this book by the Book Club that I am a member. It did not really take off for me till about half-way when something crucial happened - then I was stuck like... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Mrs. J. S. Godfrey
Eh eh man it good nuh
Loved the book, especially as it was very pertinent for me, having been born and grown up in Trinidad over the whole period, gone to the UK for school, so became an expat, and then... Read more
Published 3 months ago by bruyere
Beautiful writing but story faded slightly
From the first page you know this story is going to be great. The descriptions of the island are wonderful and the characters are all introduced well. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Janie U
The White Woman on the Green Bicycle
Utterly brilliant. At the end I went straight back to the beginning and read it again. Then again! Read more
Published 6 months ago by Mrs. S. P. Payne
Love for an island is the sternest passion...
I really enjoyed reading this book. Every time I opened it and lost myself into its pages, I could feel transported many miles away and back in time, to a green island cought in... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Alessandra F.
A disappointment!
I don't know what I expected really. The book gave me an insight into Trinidad's history, and I was intrigued to find out what became of the characters involved, but it did not... Read more
Published 7 months ago by book hungry
Well written, but somehow pointless
I think it would have been around page 100 when I realised there would be no real story, or at least not a story in the traditional sense. Read more
Published 8 months ago by David Atkinson
Striking if Overblown Insight on Life in Trinidad
My view of this book see-sawed violently as I read it. Starting with the over-used ploy of the description of a shocking event, in this case the beating of a young boy by corrupt... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Antenna
Less than fiction?
As the first chapter opens, the horrifying description of a boy being viciously beaten almost turned me against the book, but I persisted and found myself transported back to a... Read more
Published 11 months ago by M. H. Ferrieux
Interesting but lacks a little something
A nice read but the reviews at the back of the book are far too generous.. I enjoy books set in various places. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Anju
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