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Features

Siren call: How fiction reclaimed the mermaid’s tale

A graphic collage of six books against a multi-coloured yellow, pink and green background.

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Reading lists

9 books by Caribbean authors

The Mermaid of Black Conch

A novel from the Vintage Earth collection

Escape to the ocean with the entrancing, unforgettable winner of the Costa Book of the Year – as read on BBC Radio 4. 
 ‘A daring, mesmerising novel… A modern myth’ Maggie O’Farrell, author of HAMNET 
 On a quiet day, near the Caribbean island of Black Conch, a mermaid raises her barnacled head from the flat grey sea. She is attracted by David, a fisherman waiting for a catch, singing to himself with his guitar. Aycayia the mermaid has been living in the vast ocean all alone for centuries. 
 When Aycayia is caught and dragged ashore by American tourists, David rescues her with the aim of putting her back in the ocean. But it is soon clear that the mermaid is already transforming into a woman. 
 This is the story of their love affair, of an island and of the great wide sea. 
 ‘Not your standard mermaid’ Margaret Atwood, author of THE HANDMAID’S TALE 
 ‘Bighearted… A world that it is a pleasure to live inside’ New York Times 
 ‘Sensuous, beguiling, wondrous… A striking achievement’ Sunday Times 
 ‘A fiercely modern mermaid story’ The Times 
 ‘A unique talent’ Bernardine Evaristo, author of GIRL, WOMAN, OTHER 
 VINTAGE EARTH is a series of books that reveals our ever-changing relationship with the environment. These are stories old and young, set in worlds real or imagined, that allow us to explore our connection to the natural world. Transformative, wild, surprising and essential, these novels take on the most urgent story of our times.

Bighearted . . . Sentence by sensuous sentence, Roffey builds a verdant, complicated world that it is a pleasure to live inside . . . A fairy tale. But it is a ghost story too

[A] beautiful book... Roffey's writing is lyrical and filled with magic, but there is plenty of bittersweet realism to ground it

Monique Roffey was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad, and lives in London. She is the author of seven novels and a memoir. The Mermaid of Black Conch won the Costa Book of the Year and the Costa Novel Award and was shortlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize and the Goldsmiths Prize. Her other highly acclaimed books include Archipelago, which won the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature, The White Woman on the Green Bicycle and House of Ashes. In addition to her work as an environmental activist, she is a professor of contemporary fiction at Manchester Metropolitan University.

'His stomach trembled with desire and fear and wonder because he knew what he'd seen. A woman. Right there, in the water' 
 
On a quiet day, near the Caribbean island of Black Conch, a mermaid raises her barnacled head from the flat grey sea. She is attracted by David, a fisherman waiting for a catch, singing to himself with his guitar. Aycayia the mermaid has been living in the vast ocean all alone for centuries. 
 
When Aycayia is caught and dragged ashore by American tourists, David rescues her with the aim of putting her back in the ocean. But it is soon clear that the mermaid is already transforming into a woman. 
 
This is the story of their love affair, of an island and of the great wide sea. 
 
'Mesmerising' Maggie O'Farrell 
'A unique talent' Bernadine Evaristo 
'Not your standard mermaid' Margaret Atwood 
 
VINTAGE EARTH is a series of books that reveals our ever-changing relationship with the environment. These are stories old and young, set in worlds real or imagined, that allow us to explore our connection to the natural world. Transformative, wild, surprising and essential, these novels take on the most urgent story of our times.

Monique Roffey

Passiontide is a bold rallying cry of a novel. Vital, enraging and brilliant. I loved it

Roffey’s world-building power is evident on every page… It dramatises a full-throated campaign for change

A sensual, ferocious subversion of the island police-procedural. If The White Lotus were a modern feminist thriller, this would be it... A grown-up treat and cri de cœur for a better world

Beautiful and important. Passiontide is a resounding testament to the rebellious spirit and bravery of Caribbean women

SAFIYA SINCLAIR, author of How to Say Babylon

A tour de force Caribbean novel of female revolution that will keep you reading all hours… A compelling and unforgettable read

Passiontide imagines a feminist reckoning in the wake of one woman’s murder on the fictional Caribbean island of St Colibri... Roffey masters the building sense of tension and scale as the women’s protest gathers strength

Compelling… Passiontide is suspense-filled, and simmering with anger

A vital novel…fiery, funny and ferociously feminist

Monique Roffey is a trailblazer of Caribbean literature… Passiontide is a reckoning, a protest, and a prayer

BREANNE MC IVOR, author of The God of Good Looks

A feminist fable… The larger-than-life characters and at times ribald humour turn what could be a polemic into an exhilarating fantasy… Eventually, as befits a novel set during Passiontide – the final two weeks of Lent – redemption comes through repentance and love

An urgent novel… The murder of a Japanese tourist on a fictional Caribbean island sparks a rebellion among the local women… [A] well-told tale of a feminist uprising

The best book I have read in years. It’s so wonderful: so rich, inspiring, funny, moving. A true chronicle of hope, in sisterhood, community, faith and men

A bold and audacious feminist revenge fantasy… Passiontide is simultaneously delicious and devastating in its premise… Roffey juxtaposes her typically provocative, astute and unsettling observations with humour and compassion

Monique Roffey’s passions and beliefs shine through everything she writes… She’s an irresistible storyteller with a poetic touch; the fire in her belly comes with strong narrative architecture and beautiful language

On a Caribbean island, four women spark a revolution in Monique Roffey’s Passiontide. Roffey explores the history of the Caribbean, gender and violence with spellbinding results

This is a badass novel for a feminist generation

Roffey lures you into her mesmerising world and spins an intricate, human story you can't wait to unravel

Ambitious, polyvocal… It’s a ‘J’accuse’ critique of male violence in the Caribbean, a love letter to the islands’ women and a howl of frustration at the status quo… Passiontide is a pacy novel, swept along by [Roffey’s] activist fervour

Riveting... Guided by its intricately drawn characters and razor-sharp characterisation, the novel captivates readers from its opening pages to its compelling conclusion

ROGER ROBINSON, author of A Portable Paradise

A dream of feminist resistance rises, beguiling in its possibility. Meanwhile, the maelstrom of daily Caribbean life swirls [within this novel]: grief, corruption, outrage, violence, excitement, friendship, love

The spirit of carnival itself is in the writing. A powerful and electrifying novel

JASON ALLEN-PAISANT, author of Self-Portrait as Othello

A book which though full of righteous fury is also sweetly humane… There are dark and literally earth-shattering twists at the end of Passiontide. But there is also a lot of redemption and hope

Roffey unspools delicate, behind-the-scenes discussions and conflicts while revealing the scandals underlying the island's power structure. Characters pulse with authenticity... gripping

An absolute favourite book of mine from last year…  What I love is you follow characters that are good, bad, indifferent and in between, and they’re so vivid and full of life – even if you don’t like them, you still enjoy spending time with them…  I just couldn’t put this down

Early one morning, at the close of St Colibri’s carnival, a young female steel-pan player is found dead beneath a cannonball tree. It is a discovery that will transform the lives of everyone on this small island. 
 
As the days pass, this shocking event draws together four women. There’s Sharleen, a journalist with an eye for the real story. Her childhood friend Tara, a pink-haired, straight-talking local activist. Gigi, the ‘notorious’ founder of the Port Isabella Sex Workers Collective. And Daisy, first lady of St Colibri, who is haunted by a disappearance in her own family decades ago. 
 
In a community in which women’s voices are often silenced and violence against them is overlooked time after time, the group soon find themselves compelled to speak out – and to act. But even they could never have foreseen the consequences of their courage…

Monique Roffey

Praise for Passiontide

Passiontide is a bold rallying cry of a novel. Vital, enraging and brilliant. I loved it

Roffey’s world-building power is evident on every page… It dramatises a full-throated campaign for change

A sensual, ferocious subversion of the island police-procedural. **If The White Lotus were a modern feminist thriller, this would be it**... A grown-up treat and cri de cœur for a better worl ...

Passiontide is a bold rallying cry of a novel. Vital, enraging and brilliant. I loved it

Roffey’s world-building power is evident on every page… It dramatises a full-throated campaign for change

A sensual, ferocious subversion of the island police-procedural. **If The White Lotus were a modern feminist thriller, this would be it**... A grown-up treat and cri de cœur for a better worl ...

Passiontide is a bold rallying cry of a novel. Vital, enraging and brilliant. I loved it

Roffey’s world-building power is evident on every page… It dramatises a full-throated campaign for change

A sensual, ferocious subversion of the island police-procedural. **If The White Lotus were a modern feminist thriller, this would be it**... A grown-up treat and cri de cœur for a better worl ...

Books by Monique Roffey

Articles featuring Monique Roffey

Siren call: How fiction reclaimed the mermaid’s tale

9 books by Caribbean authors

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Praise for Passiontide

Passiontide is a bold rallying cry of a novel. Vital, enraging and brilliant. I loved it

Roffey’s world-building power is evident on every page… It dramatises a full-throated campaign for change

A sensual, ferocious subversion of the island police-procedural. If The White Lotus were a modern feminist thriller, this would be it... A grown-up treat and cri de cœur for a better worl ...

Passiontide is a bold rallying cry of a novel. Vital, enraging and brilliant. I loved it

Roffey’s world-building power is evident on every page… It dramatises a full-throated campaign for change

A sensual, ferocious subversion of the island police-procedural. If The White Lotus were a modern feminist thriller, this would be it... A grown-up treat and cri de cœur for a better worl ...

Passiontide is a bold rallying cry of a novel. Vital, enraging and brilliant. I loved it

Roffey’s world-building power is evident on every page… It dramatises a full-throated campaign for change

A sensual, ferocious subversion of the island police-procedural. If The White Lotus were a modern feminist thriller, this would be it... A grown-up treat and cri de cœur for a better worl ...

Books by Monique Roffey

Articles featuring Monique Roffey

Siren call: How fiction reclaimed the mermaid’s tale

9 books by Caribbean authors

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter

A sensual, ferocious subversion of the island police-procedural. **If The White Lotus were a modern feminist thriller, this would be it**... A grown-up treat and cri de cœur for a better worl ...

A sensual, ferocious subversion of the island police-procedural. **If The White Lotus were a modern feminist thriller, this would be it**... A grown-up treat and cri de cœur for a better worl ...

A sensual, ferocious subversion of the island police-procedural. **If The White Lotus were a modern feminist thriller, this would be it**... A grown-up treat and cri de cœur for a better worl ...