WWW Wednesday

W…W…W…Wednesdays is a weekly meme hosted by MizB at Should be Reading. 

TO PLAY ALONG, JUST ANSWER THE FOLLOWING THREE (3) QUESTIONS:

1. What are you currently reading?
2. What did you recently finish reading?
3. What do you think you’ll read next?

_________________________________________________________________________________

What are you currently reading?

Currently I’m reading The World Beneath by Cate Kennedy. It’s set in Australia which I always love, and i’m about a quarter of the way through and am enjoying it. Here’s a teaser. I know I said in my last WWW Wednesday that i’d be reading a Ken Follett book, however my Mum is still reading it so I’m reading this instead.

The World Beneath – Cate Kennedy

What did you recently finish reading? 

I just finished The White Woman on the Green Bicycle by Monique Roffey. Here’s my review.

The White Woman on the Green Bicycle – Monique Roffey

What do you think you’ll read next?

The next book I’ll read is Youth by J.M. Coetzee which I’m looking forward to since it’s set in South Africa which is where my dad is from.

Youth – J.M Coetzee

I would love to hear your thoughts on any of these books, although no spoilers please for the ones I haven’t read yet!

-H-

#18 The White Woman on the Green Bicycle – Monique Roffey

The White Woman on the Green Bicycle – Monique Roffey

Goodreads rating: 3.41/5 (1,100+ ratings)

My rating: 6/10

First Published: April 20th, 2010 by  Pocket Books

Genre: Modern Fiction

Set in Trinidad, switching between the 2000’s and the late 1950’s to early 1970’s, The White Woman on the Green Bicycle explores racism, politics, marriage and injustice. Sabine and George Harwood move to Trinidad in the late 50’s after George’s company sends him there for work. Originally only meant to be a 3 year thing, Sabine grins and bears it through those years, although often expresses to George how much she wants to return to England. Promotion after promotion for George results in the Harwoods starting a family in Trinidad, and staying around for a lot longer than 3 years.

The first part of the book is set in current times, when George & Sabine are in their 70s. It displays what the country has done to them, both as individuals and a couple, and it’s not pretty. Sabine is clearly depressed, sad and lonely; George a philandering, rum loving man.

The rest of this novel goes back to when the couple arrived in Trinidad in the late 1950’s, and how a Dr Eric Williams takes over the country as Prime Minister, and Sabine’s mind. From living in a tiny apartment, to owning lots of land in Trinidad and having multiple maids and help. And to the downfall of Eric Williams, and the high racial tension and hate of the white people living on the island.

It took me a while to get into this book. Towards the end of the first third is when it started to get interesting, and the chapters about them arriving in Trinidad and the beginning of their lives there were captivating. It’s a place I’d never actually thought much about and I enjoyed reading about it. The fact that the author was born in Trinidad (educated in the UK) adds validity to the novel and the experiences these ex-pats would have had, especially considering Roffey says this book ‘blends family biography with a lot of fiction’.

None of the main characters are very likeable, except for the maids. Although Sabine is a bit of a miserable woman, I found myself feeling very sorry for her and her situation, particularly towards the end. She hates this country and wants to leave, but is forever trapped.

I think at just over 450 pages it was too long. Many chapters dragged on for me and I think it would have been a much better book had it been 50 – 70 pages shorter.

Overall this was a decent book, and had some interesting ideas and stories. I think that many of the story-lines in the first part of the book weren’t fully explained or closed off, which was disappointing.

-H-

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by Should Be Reading.

Rules

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Teaser

Book: I’m still reading The White Woman on the Green Bicycle by Monique Roffey. It’s taking me forever. I’m now up to page 401 whereas with last week’s teaser I was up to page 208. My teaser is from page 425. 

‘I put my arms around him and held him tight, unhappy for him and for myself and for all that had happened and knowing no words to bridge the gap between us. Nothing as simple as a few well-chosen words of condolence; I had nothing to say to him’

-H-

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by Should Be Reading.

Rules

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Teaser

Book: I’m currently reading The White Woman on the Green Bicycle by Monique Roffey. I’m up to page 208, and my teaser is from page 338. You might think that the below is a spoiler, however the fact that George sleeps with other women is revealed near the beginning of the book

‘I came to understand that George slept with other women. He did so in the name of modernity, of this new age’s allowances and celebration of promiscuity, but most of all because of the feast that was on offer to him.’

The White Woman on the Green Bicycle – Monique Roffey

-H-

 

WWW Wednesday

W…W…W…Wednesdays is a weekly meme hosted by MizB at Should be Reading. 

TO PLAY ALONG, JUST ANSWER THE FOLLOWING THREE (3) QUESTIONS:

1. What are you currently reading?
2. What did you recently finish reading?
3. What do you think you’ll read next?

_________________________________________________________________________________

What are you currently reading?

Currently I’m reading The White Woman on the Green Bicycle by Monique Roffey. I’m up to page 65 and haven’t really got into it yet.

The White Woman on the Green Bicycle – Monique Roffey

What did you recently finish reading? 

I just finished the True Blood Omnibus 1 by Charlaine Harris, which is comprised of the first 3 books of The Southern Vampire series: Dead Until Dark, Living Dead in Dallas, and Club Dead. I’d already read the first book separately, and you can find my review here.

True Blood Omnibus – Charlaine Harris

What do you think you’ll read next?

The next book i’ll read is Ken Follett’s latest novel, book #2 of The Century Trilogy, Winter of the World. I loved the first book in this series, Fall of Giants, so am looking forward to reading this although I’ve heard mixed reviews.

Winter of the World – Ken Follett

Feel free to let me know your thoughts on any of these books, although no spoilers please for the ones I haven’t read yet!

-H-