See the hottest books publishing this Summer
The White Woman on the Green Bicycle by Monique Roffey

The White Woman on the Green Bicycle

A Novel

by Monique Roffey
  • BookBrowse Review:
  • Critics' Consensus (8):
  • Paperback:
  • Apr 2011, 448 pages
  • Rate this book

About This Book

Calypso

This article relates to The White Woman on the Green Bicycle

Print Review

In 1956, Americans were getting their first taste of Trinidad's unique contribution to music in the form of Harry Belafonte's infectious crossover hit, "The Banana Boat Song (Day-O)." A brief fervor for all things calypso followed, resulting in such nutty fare as tough guy actor Robert Mitchum's album, Calypso - Is Like So... (1957), and kitschy B movie Bop Girl Goes Calypso (1957). Although Belafonte may have been known as the King of Calypso in the United States (a claim to fame never made for Mitchum), Trinidadians revered serious performers like Lord Kitchener, Sir Lancelot, and the Mighty Sparrow, and for them, calypso symbolized much more than barbecue background music.


The roots of calypso are believed to date back to the 16th and 17th centuries, when West African slaves introduced gayup - a kind of call and response music led by a chantwell - to the Caribbean. These songs endured through centuries of colonization by the Spanish, French, and British, and, after slavery was abolished in the mid-19th century, were incorporated into the music of the European Lenten celebration known as Carnival.

Combining the festive costumes and parades of the French plantation owners with an African call and response song structure and steel percussion instruments, Trinidadians thus created the first calypsos; these often took the form of musical competitions with invigorating boasts and chants that hailed the victorious while heaping derision on the defeated.

Calypso quickly evolved into a medium for socially conscious messages, leading to such hits as "Rum and Coca Cola" (1943) by Lord Invader, an attack on the loose morals indulged in by American soldiers and their local paramours, and the Mighty Sparrow's "Jean and Dinah" (1956), which addressed the struggles of prostitutes deprived of their livelihood after the exodus of American military bases from Trinidad.

More recently, calypso has sprouted such offshoots as soca (a fast-paced, percussion-heavy, electronic music born in the 1970s that captures a more rock and disco oriented audience), and rapso (a hybrid of calypso and spoken word poetry that reflects the Black Power movement of the '70s and '80s), which is often associated with musician Brother Resistance (see video below).


In The White Woman on the Green Bicycle, a novel that often blends fact and fiction, the Mighty Sparrow makes an appearance, discussing his illustrious career with George. Initially a supporter of Williams, Sparrow grew disillusioned with the island's leader and recorded a dismissal called "Get to Hell Outta Here" in 1965 (both in reality and in the novel). Won over by this charismatic and forthright people's hero, George realizes that Sparrow is "a performer through and through, a persuader with devastating charm, a man of love." These same qualities could describe calypso equally well, as this music informs, convinces, and romances its listeners.

Filed under

Article by Marnie Colton

This article relates to The White Woman on the Green Bicycle. It first ran in the May 12, 2011 issue of BookBrowse Recommends.

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

BookBrowse Book Club

  • Book Jacket
    The Lamplighter's Bookshop
    by Sophie Austin
    The Lost Bookshop meets The Lost Apothecary in a beguiling novel full of secrets…
  • Book Jacket
    The Ghostwriter
    by Julie Clark
    From the instant New York Times bestselling author of The Last Flight and The Lies I Tell comes a dazzling new thriller.
  • Book Jacket
    The Busybody Book Club
    by Freya Sampson
    They can't even agree on what to read, so how are they going to solve a murder?

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    Ordinary Love
    by Marie Rutkoski

    A riveting story of class, ambition, and bisexuality—one woman risks everything for a second chance at first love.

  • Book Jacket

    Making Friends Can Be Murder
    by Kathleen West

    Thirty-year-old Sarah Jones is drawn into a neighborhood murder mystery after befriending a deceptive con artist.

Who Said...

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

B a L

and be entered to win..

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.