Passiontide

Monique Roffey is a unique talent

BERNARDINE EVARISTO

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

Books for 2024, i-D

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

SARAH WINMAN, author of Still Life

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

ROSIE BOYCOTT

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

CLAIRE ADAM, author of Golden Child

This is a badass novel for a feminist generation

GABRIELLE HOSEIN

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

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

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

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

AMANDA SMYTH, author of Fortune

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

LOUISA YOUNG, Perspective

A vital novel…fiery, funny and ferociously feminist

DIANA EVANS, author of Ordinary People

Powerful and devastating

Stylist

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

Mail on Sunday

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

Observer

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

Trinidad Express

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

MARINA WARNER, Literary Review

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

Booklist

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

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

Guardian

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

Glamour, Best Books of June

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 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

LALINE PAULL, author of The Bees and Pod

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

Writers Mosaic

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

LINDSEY HILSUM, Times Literary Supplement

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

Recommends, SERVICE95

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

Simon Savidge, Savidgereads