Monique Roffey
Monique Roffey
Monique Roffeyis an award-winning Trinidadian-born British writer and memoirist...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionWriter
against among given love ourselves truth unhappy variety wide
I made myself unhappy measuring my love against a given norm. The truth is, we make ourselves happy in among a wide variety of loves; all count.
apart committed earlier future life personal pursuing whatever
Apart from writing books, my 40s have been about pursuing personal growth. Whatever were the mistakes of my earlier life, I've been committed to a pause, a regroup. I don't want to make the same mistakes in the future.
affinity born caribbean great natural pools sink swim swimmer swimming thrown warm
Born on an island, I could swim before I could walk, thrown many times into swimming pools and warm transparent Caribbean waters: sink or swim, that was my first lesson. While I'm not a natural athlete, I'm still a strong swimmer and feel a great affinity with the sea.
age cancer died
At the age of 62, my father died of cancer - it was much too soon. My mother never remarried or got over it, never even thought of another man.
hard idealism love realism replaced romantic work youth
The romantic idealism of my youth has been replaced with realism and hard work at what I love.
era failure green independence love mapped onto political unfolding white
'The White Woman on the Green Bicycle' is a love story mapped onto an unfolding political tragedy: that of the failure of the Independence era in Trinidad.
eve party time
New Year's Eve is not about having a big party for me. It's a time of reflection, and I often go on spiritual retreats.
books explore figure good means
All my books explore fatherhood. I look at what it means to have a big father figure at the centre: sometimes they're a good father, sometimes bad.
dalai destroyed imperative love
The person I love most is the Dalai Lama. China destroyed his country, yet he says that it's imperative we show love for the Chinese.
dynamism exciting knew love
What I always knew about my parents was that they were in love, and this love had a fizz. It was exciting to be their child, to be around them. There was a dynamism between them, a charge.
british cannot cricket cup either english entirely hard home label language supported west
While I am most at home in London, I cannot really label myself as either British or Trinidadian. I write in the English language and live in the U.K. I find it hard to say that I am an entirely British writer, especially when I supported Trinidad in the 2006 World Cup and also support the West Indies cricket team.
observant wild
I was an observant but dreamy child. I had a lazy eye and wild curls.
curse drive forgetting might monologue muse people worst
I talk to myself. It's my worst habit. I often muse aloud, or, when people drive me crazy, I curse them aloud. I might do a ranting monologue about how pissed off I am about them, occasionally forgetting that they might still be in the room; now, that's weird!
bit marriage
My parents had a long and eventful marriage and were always a bit like movie stars to me when they were young.