THE WHITE WOMAN ON THE GREEN BICYCLE, Monique Roffey's 'dramatic and enlightening exploration of colonialism and revolt in Trinidad' is sold to Penguin in the US in a deal done via Melissa Chinchillo of Fletcher & Co on behalf of Blake Friedmann's Isobel Dixon. The Orange Prize shortlisted novel has been the subject of intense activity ahead of the awards ceremony at the Royal Festival Hall in London on Wednesday 9 June, with a large-scale poster campaign on the London Underground and a strong rise in sales, catapulting the novel to No. 18 on The Bookseller 'Fiction Heatseekers' chart.

Monique Roffey is also scheduled to appear at the inaugural Stoke Newington Literary Festival on Saturday June 5th, when she and fellow Anglo-Trinidadian Amanda Smyth, author of BLACK ROCK, will be talking about their personal stories, the way they write, and their exceptionally evocative and revealing novels of Caribbean life. Please click here for more information.

The Orange Prize, first awarded in 1996, is the only British literary prize that focuses exclusively on novels written by women. Alongside Monique Roffey on the shortlist of six are Rosie Alison, Barbara Kingsolver, Attica Locke, Hilary Mantel and Lorrie Moore. Previous winners of the prize include Zadie Smith, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Carol Shields. Chair of judges Daisy Goodwin said of THE WHITE WOMAN ON THE GREEN BICYCLE: 'It's completely original, a richly imagined portrait of a country. Once you've read it you'll want to go to Trinidad. It's extraordinary.' For more on the prize, including the novel's entry on the Orange Prize website click here.

THE WHITE WOMAN ON THE GREEN BICYCLE has been published in the UK (Simon and Schuster, 2009) and in Australia (Penguin, 2009), with the UK paperback released in April. Suzanne Berne, a previous winner of the Orange Prize, describes Monique Roffey's novel as "vibrant, provocative, satisfying", her Trinidad "so beautifully and lushly evoked that while I was reading Trinidad became more real for me than my own neighbourhood." Another of Roffey's fans, Booker Prize nominee Sarah Hall, has said, "Monique Roffey is a writer of verve, vibrancy and compassion, and her work is always a joy to read."

More Praise for THE WHITE WOMAN ON THE GREEN BICYCLE:
 
'Vibrant and vivid; passionate and true. This is a powerful tropical mix; a compassionate book that needed to be written.'
-- Amanda Smyth, author of BLACK ROCK
 
'Compelling and original. A bruised, sensuous love-letter to Trinidad which grippingly unfolds the violent aftermath of colonial rule and also speaks fearlessly of love and hatred across the lines of 'race' and class.'
-- Maggie Gee
 
'Monique Roffey's story of contemporary Trinidad seen through European eyes breaks entirely new ground. It is a major contribution to the new wave of Caribbean writing: energetic, uncompromising, bold in the choice of narrative devices, and a great read. Roffey is a magical storyteller...Boundless in its understanding of the human spirit…will resonate with readers everywhere.'                                                           
-- Olive Senior, Jamaican poet, short story writer and Commonwealth Prize-winner
 
'It's a dramatic and enlightening exploration of colonialism and revolt in Trinidad through the perceptions of two main characters caught up in a tumultuous history. It's also an honest and moving anatomy of a long marriage, its comforts and costs. What is very striking is the equal compassion in the portrayals of a faithless, selfish man and a disappointed woman - Monique's merciful identification with both of them reminds me of Toni Morrison.'
-- Linda Anderson, author of TO STAY ALIVE and CUCKOO