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House of Ashes
Author of The Mermaid of Black Conch , Rathbone Folio Prize 2021 longlisted, Winner of the Costa Best Novel Award 2020 & Winner of the Costa Book of the Year 2020
The City of Silk is restless, its people suffering in the grip of corruption. Then, one hot July evening, The Leader gathers his followers, a brotherhood of half-trained men and boys, and storms the House of Power. Together they intend to take back what they believe is rightfully theirs.
Caught up in the mayhem is quiet, scholarly Ashes. He had been inspired by The Leader's charisma, but now that words have turned to action he's not so sure about this insurrection.
And trapped with the rebel boy soldiers is government minister Aspasia Garland. The mother of a son the same age as the teenage gunmen, she sees much of her child in these boys with guns.
As the siege continues, the city holds its breath. For what happens over the next six days will change the small island's future forever…
Praise for House of
'The kind of Caribbean fiction Gabriel Garcia Marquez once wrote about - a vividness of imagination which is at once so terrible, so beautiful and so compelling that it shows you exactly how things are' Kei Miller
'Roffey's writing is raw and visceral and she thrusts her readers headlong into the middle of the action, her pen as powerful as the butts of guns shoved in her hostages' backs' Observer
'Goes to the heart of questions of political temptation and folly; it grips from beginning to end' Sunday Telegraph
'Gripping' The Times
'Absorbing' Independent
'Vivid' Guardian
'Powerful' Observer
‘Monique Roffey is a unique talent and most daring and versatile of writers' Bernardine Evaristo
The City of Silk is restless, its people suffering in the grip of corruption. Then, one hot July evening, The Leader gathers his followers, a brotherhood of half-trained men and boys, and storms the House of Power. Together they intend to take back what they believe is rightfully theirs.
Caught up in the mayhem is quiet, scholarly Ashes. He had been inspired by The Leader's charisma, but now that words have turned to action he's not so sure about this insurrection.
And trapped with the rebel boy soldiers is government minister Aspasia Garland. The mother of a son the same age as the teenage gunmen, she sees much of her child in these boys with guns.
As the siege continues, the city holds its breath. For what happens over the next six days will change the small island's future forever…
Praise for House of
'The kind of Caribbean fiction Gabriel Garcia Marquez once wrote about - a vividness of imagination which is at once so terrible, so beautiful and so compelling that it shows you exactly how things are' Kei Miller
'Roffey's writing is raw and visceral and she thrusts her readers headlong into the middle of the action, her pen as powerful as the butts of guns shoved in her hostages' backs' Observer
'Goes to the heart of questions of political temptation and folly; it grips from beginning to end' Sunday Telegraph
'Gripping' The Times
'Absorbing' Independent
'Vivid' Guardian
'Powerful' Observer
‘Monique Roffey is a unique talent and most daring and versatile of writers' Bernardine Evaristo
363 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 19, 2014
6 people are currently reading
281 people want to read
About the author
Monique Roffey
14 books450 followersMonique Roffey, FRSL, is an award winning British-Trinidadian writer. Her most recent novel, Passiontide, (Harvill, 2024), a crime thriller and protest novel, was a finalist for the prestigious US Caricon Award.
The Mermaid of Black Conch (Peepal Tree Press/Vintage) won the Costa Book of the Year Award, 2020 and was shortlisted for the Goldsmiths Prize, 2020, the Rathbones/Folio Award 2021, and the Republic of Consciousness Award. Her other novels have been shortlisted for The Orange Prize, Costa Novel Award, Encore and Orion Awards. In 2013, Archipelago won the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature. She is Professor of Contemporary Fiction at Manchester Metropolitan University.
The Mermaid of Black Conch (Peepal Tree Press/Vintage) won the Costa Book of the Year Award, 2020 and was shortlisted for the Goldsmiths Prize, 2020, the Rathbones/Folio Award 2021, and the Republic of Consciousness Award. Her other novels have been shortlisted for The Orange Prize, Costa Novel Award, Encore and Orion Awards. In 2013, Archipelago won the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature. She is Professor of Contemporary Fiction at Manchester Metropolitan University.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
January 3, 2021
Loosely based on the 1990 attempted coup in Trinidad and Tobago the story is related initially by Ashes one of the gunmen and Aspasia a Minister in the Government. After the coup the story is continued 23 years later by one of the gunmen who escaped. The action scenes are all a bit ho hum.
The strength of the book is in the sections where the gunmen and hostages debate what each is trying to do which causes both parties to reflect on what they are or should be doing. The last section is also interesting to see what happened to the country. Also interesting was to see the link between the coup inspired by a religious leader to subsequent events on 9/11 and later.
The strength of the book is in the sections where the gunmen and hostages debate what each is trying to do which causes both parties to reflect on what they are or should be doing. The last section is also interesting to see what happened to the country. Also interesting was to see the link between the coup inspired by a religious leader to subsequent events on 9/11 and later.
December 21, 2014
If you’ve ever listened to the Shooting the Poo podcast or spoken to my mate Dave, you’ll know that I have a thing about Hollywood films based on true events. No matter how well acted or directed the movie, I always experience a crushing sense of betrayal when I discover that the majority of the film, including a number of the pivotal scenes, were completely made-up. You’d think I’d get over it and yet I keep asking myself the same question – why don’t these movies just tell the truth?*
The same question accompanied me as I read Monique Roffey’s Costa Book Award nominated novel, House of Ashes. In this case, though, it’s not the lack of truth that’s the issue, if anything it’s Roffey’s fidelity to history that weighs the book down.
In the Author’s Note she tells us that her story, about a coup d’état on the fictional Caribbean Island of Sans Amen, may “bear some relation to an attempted coup which took place in Trinidad and Tobago in 1990.” This is an understatement. While the place names might have changed, and while characters like Ashes and Breeze and Aspasia Garland never existed, the historical beats – the year of the coup (1990), the takeover of the Government house and the island’s one television station, the number of militants that were involved (114), the length of the coup (6 days), the looting that happened in Port-au-Prince during the crisis and the beating and shooting of the Prime Minister for ordering the army to attack with full force – are all accurately portrayed in the novel.
This then raises the obvious question – why bother with an invented Caribbean island, why not just provide a historical, but fictional, account of the 1990 coup?
Danuta Kean provides the answer in her July 2014 interview with Monique Roffey for The Independent. She observes that,
"[Roffey’s] nerves are not those of a media newbie. Instead they reflect a writer playing with fire… She glances around as if we are being watched. I look around too. Nervousness is infectious. Her paranoia is reasonable. The religious group behind the 1990 uprising remains active. She has no desire to be a female Salman Rushdie."
Roffey then explains what prompted her to write the novel:
"“I thought I was crazy to even contemplate writing about it,” she admits. A year was spent talking it over with her psychoanalyst. What pushed the idea off the couch and on to the page was a Commission of Inquiry held in 2011. Its report was delivered in March 2012 and after that the words flew out of her. “Writing wasn’t the hard part,” she says."
Faced with the conflicting need to bring attention to the 1990 coup, while also protecting herself and her family, I can understand why Roffey made the artistic decision to set her story in Sans Amen. It’s easy to argue that art should transcend issues of life and death. History is littered with creative-types who’ve endangered their lives for their work. But when faced with potential death threats, I can absolutely appreciate why common sense might prevail.
In anycase I doubt Roffey believes that she’s comprised her work by changing place names and inventing characters. The focus of House of Ashes is the message rather than the historical truth. As she states in her Author’s Note, “the events [detailed in the novel] may have much in common with coups d’état in other parts of the world, for example Latin America, Europe or Africa. While on the decline, the coup remains a common form of power change in the world.” And in line with that sentiment, the novel provides an interesting post-colonial critique, exploring the bad habits left over by colonial powers and the abuse of innocence, especially young, uneducated men living in poverty and looking for meaning and sense in their lives.
Beyond the themes of the novel, the narrative is tense, gripping and confronting. Roffey does an excellent job in detailing the adrenalin charged horror of the first moments of the coup and the mix of boredom, fear and loss of dignity that settles in once the food runs out and a corner of the room becomes a latrine.
Throughout it all, though, the ghost of the 1990 coup lingers. While it’s clear that the militants overthrowing the Robinson Government are religious, Roffey never uses the words Islam or Muslim to describe their faith. The fact that Roffey mutes this element means that there’s this gaping hole in the novel that’s never adequately explored. It’s sad because I would have loved to have seen Roffey apply her keen insight on the faith that motivated the militants.
Unlike a Hollywood film, Roffey wants to give us a true accounting of what happened in Trinidad and Tobago in 1990 and why. However, genuine fear of reprisal means that what could have been a powerful and relevant novel never fully comes together. It’s not an entirely hollow reading experience, but I do wish I lived in a time where art wasn’t sometimes required to distance itself from the truth.
* Yes, I know reality and history are messy and don’t lend themselves to the neat narrative beats of a movie. But that’s what documentaries are for.
The same question accompanied me as I read Monique Roffey’s Costa Book Award nominated novel, House of Ashes. In this case, though, it’s not the lack of truth that’s the issue, if anything it’s Roffey’s fidelity to history that weighs the book down.
In the Author’s Note she tells us that her story, about a coup d’état on the fictional Caribbean Island of Sans Amen, may “bear some relation to an attempted coup which took place in Trinidad and Tobago in 1990.” This is an understatement. While the place names might have changed, and while characters like Ashes and Breeze and Aspasia Garland never existed, the historical beats – the year of the coup (1990), the takeover of the Government house and the island’s one television station, the number of militants that were involved (114), the length of the coup (6 days), the looting that happened in Port-au-Prince during the crisis and the beating and shooting of the Prime Minister for ordering the army to attack with full force – are all accurately portrayed in the novel.
This then raises the obvious question – why bother with an invented Caribbean island, why not just provide a historical, but fictional, account of the 1990 coup?
Danuta Kean provides the answer in her July 2014 interview with Monique Roffey for The Independent. She observes that,
"[Roffey’s] nerves are not those of a media newbie. Instead they reflect a writer playing with fire… She glances around as if we are being watched. I look around too. Nervousness is infectious. Her paranoia is reasonable. The religious group behind the 1990 uprising remains active. She has no desire to be a female Salman Rushdie."
Roffey then explains what prompted her to write the novel:
"“I thought I was crazy to even contemplate writing about it,” she admits. A year was spent talking it over with her psychoanalyst. What pushed the idea off the couch and on to the page was a Commission of Inquiry held in 2011. Its report was delivered in March 2012 and after that the words flew out of her. “Writing wasn’t the hard part,” she says."
Faced with the conflicting need to bring attention to the 1990 coup, while also protecting herself and her family, I can understand why Roffey made the artistic decision to set her story in Sans Amen. It’s easy to argue that art should transcend issues of life and death. History is littered with creative-types who’ve endangered their lives for their work. But when faced with potential death threats, I can absolutely appreciate why common sense might prevail.
In anycase I doubt Roffey believes that she’s comprised her work by changing place names and inventing characters. The focus of House of Ashes is the message rather than the historical truth. As she states in her Author’s Note, “the events [detailed in the novel] may have much in common with coups d’état in other parts of the world, for example Latin America, Europe or Africa. While on the decline, the coup remains a common form of power change in the world.” And in line with that sentiment, the novel provides an interesting post-colonial critique, exploring the bad habits left over by colonial powers and the abuse of innocence, especially young, uneducated men living in poverty and looking for meaning and sense in their lives.
Beyond the themes of the novel, the narrative is tense, gripping and confronting. Roffey does an excellent job in detailing the adrenalin charged horror of the first moments of the coup and the mix of boredom, fear and loss of dignity that settles in once the food runs out and a corner of the room becomes a latrine.
Throughout it all, though, the ghost of the 1990 coup lingers. While it’s clear that the militants overthrowing the Robinson Government are religious, Roffey never uses the words Islam or Muslim to describe their faith. The fact that Roffey mutes this element means that there’s this gaping hole in the novel that’s never adequately explored. It’s sad because I would have loved to have seen Roffey apply her keen insight on the faith that motivated the militants.
Unlike a Hollywood film, Roffey wants to give us a true accounting of what happened in Trinidad and Tobago in 1990 and why. However, genuine fear of reprisal means that what could have been a powerful and relevant novel never fully comes together. It’s not an entirely hollow reading experience, but I do wish I lived in a time where art wasn’t sometimes required to distance itself from the truth.
* Yes, I know reality and history are messy and don’t lend themselves to the neat narrative beats of a movie. But that’s what documentaries are for.
May 17, 2015
Novel set in the Caribbean (“…a fascinating and gripping book”)
Loosely based on the attempted coup d’état in Trinidad in 1990, the action in this fast moving story takes place on a fictitious island in the Caribbean. However, as the author says, the action has much in common with attempted coups in other parts of the world, and (in my opinion) gives an insight into much of the unrest that is taking place all over the world today.
The story starts as seen through the eyes of Ashes, a quiet studious family man. Ashes thinks that his religious “Leader” has many of the answers that he is seeking in life, so says “yes” when asked to participate in the coup, not quite understanding what he is agreeing to, but following his charismatic leader. Then one afternoon Ashes turns up to prayers, and by the time he leaves his life has changed for ever.
As events unfold, not quite as the revolutionaries imagine, the action shifts to the House of Power – and the narrative moves between Ashes and Mrs Garland, Minister for the Environment, one of the hostages.
The fears, emotions and doubts experienced by hostages and captors are portrayed expressively, and the action rises and falls according to what is going on inside the House, and what can be observed of the outside through the windows – at one stage Kate Adie is seen, so you know things are bad!
At the end of the book the story is rounded off well.
I found this a fascinating and gripping book. The perspective of Mrs Garland (hostage) was very thought provoking, and some of the conversations she has with the revolutionaries made me compare these fictional events to current world affairs. Her discussions about the realities of government, compared to the version fed to the young gunmen, and her thoughts as to what the future of these young impressionable men should be once the current events have run their course, are very thought provoking.
Some of the characters appeared so seldom in the book, that I needed, on a few occasions, to flick back to check who they were, but that may say more about my memory for names than anything else! The author uses words peculiar to Trinidad in her writing, and it is a pity that these are not translated at the back of the book. However a quick internet search brings up definitions.
For me this is a book that I will be thinking about for some time to come, and has certainly given me a new perspective on world events.
This review originally appeared on our blog: http://www.tripfiction.com/house-ashe...
Loosely based on the attempted coup d’état in Trinidad in 1990, the action in this fast moving story takes place on a fictitious island in the Caribbean. However, as the author says, the action has much in common with attempted coups in other parts of the world, and (in my opinion) gives an insight into much of the unrest that is taking place all over the world today.
The story starts as seen through the eyes of Ashes, a quiet studious family man. Ashes thinks that his religious “Leader” has many of the answers that he is seeking in life, so says “yes” when asked to participate in the coup, not quite understanding what he is agreeing to, but following his charismatic leader. Then one afternoon Ashes turns up to prayers, and by the time he leaves his life has changed for ever.
As events unfold, not quite as the revolutionaries imagine, the action shifts to the House of Power – and the narrative moves between Ashes and Mrs Garland, Minister for the Environment, one of the hostages.
The fears, emotions and doubts experienced by hostages and captors are portrayed expressively, and the action rises and falls according to what is going on inside the House, and what can be observed of the outside through the windows – at one stage Kate Adie is seen, so you know things are bad!
At the end of the book the story is rounded off well.
I found this a fascinating and gripping book. The perspective of Mrs Garland (hostage) was very thought provoking, and some of the conversations she has with the revolutionaries made me compare these fictional events to current world affairs. Her discussions about the realities of government, compared to the version fed to the young gunmen, and her thoughts as to what the future of these young impressionable men should be once the current events have run their course, are very thought provoking.
Some of the characters appeared so seldom in the book, that I needed, on a few occasions, to flick back to check who they were, but that may say more about my memory for names than anything else! The author uses words peculiar to Trinidad in her writing, and it is a pity that these are not translated at the back of the book. However a quick internet search brings up definitions.
For me this is a book that I will be thinking about for some time to come, and has certainly given me a new perspective on world events.
This review originally appeared on our blog: http://www.tripfiction.com/house-ashe...
December 17, 2017
This is the 4th of Monique Roffey's novels that I have read, and I felt this one was particularly political, compared to her others.
Although set on a fictitious island in the Caribbean, the book is somewhat based on the 1990 attempted coup d’état in Trinidad.
Told through various viewpoints, I felt mostly drawn to Ashes, and was somewhat disappointed that the final part of the book was centred around another character, Breeze.
An overall enjoyable read.
Although set on a fictitious island in the Caribbean, the book is somewhat based on the 1990 attempted coup d’état in Trinidad.
Told through various viewpoints, I felt mostly drawn to Ashes, and was somewhat disappointed that the final part of the book was centred around another character, Breeze.
An overall enjoyable read.
July 21, 2024
An important fictionalised account of the 1990 Attempted Coup in Trinidad and Tobago. Solid writing from Roffey as she addresses not only the fire and fury that took place in the Parliament and around the City of Silk, but also the emotions and psychological state of the actors involved on all sides of this attempted coup.
One can pick up hints of sympathy for the young, wild and dumb who found themselves under the command of those hungry for power by any means, and while it is easy to dismiss such sympathy, Roffey invites the readers to explore a little deeper, to think about the extremely young human behind the gun.
A must read.
One can pick up hints of sympathy for the young, wild and dumb who found themselves under the command of those hungry for power by any means, and while it is easy to dismiss such sympathy, Roffey invites the readers to explore a little deeper, to think about the extremely young human behind the gun.
A must read.
July 20, 2021
Six days in summer. Six days of a revolution that was meant to change the world.
Do the young rebels know what they are about to do?
There is shooting and death - people going about their daily lives in the parliament.
Chaos is let loose.
Six days later, life has changed for them all. Life has ended for many.
What was achieved and what of the future?
Interesting characters, amazingly written. Gripping reading.
Do the young rebels know what they are about to do?
There is shooting and death - people going about their daily lives in the parliament.
Chaos is let loose.
Six days later, life has changed for them all. Life has ended for many.
What was achieved and what of the future?
Interesting characters, amazingly written. Gripping reading.
October 3, 2021
Disappointed, in Trinidad we might say 'too same same'. I had enjoyed two of her earlier books but felt this was predictable following newspaper coverage and not really delving into the past and why not describe it as Trinidad which it obviously is, in stead of Sans Amen. I guess her island name is an attempt to be clever given 9/11 etc. She could have explored causes more deeply. A revolution that doesn't explore its failure and fall out enough re post colonial early days...
August 20, 2024
Monique Roffey writes with such intelligence. This is a brilliantly written story with a powerful theme. A story of strength, faith, corruption, vulnerability and naivety.
'From the window, Ashes saw not one of the looters, his fellow countrymen, seemed interested in what was happening in the vivid magenta House of Power'
'Maybe being poor was different from being oppressed'
'Anger is never a good reaction to events, anger shuts out the light'.
A highly recommended read.
'From the window, Ashes saw not one of the looters, his fellow countrymen, seemed interested in what was happening in the vivid magenta House of Power'
'Maybe being poor was different from being oppressed'
'Anger is never a good reaction to events, anger shuts out the light'.
A highly recommended read.
July 21, 2024
House of Ashes is a strong message exploring habits left from
colonial powers and the abuse of young uneducated men living in poverty and looking for meaning in life. I love that the author does not speak to a specific religion, the author speaks from two perspectives and humanizes persons involved. A quick easy read
colonial powers and the abuse of young uneducated men living in poverty and looking for meaning in life. I love that the author does not speak to a specific religion, the author speaks from two perspectives and humanizes persons involved. A quick easy read
December 6, 2024
Sophisticated fictionalisation of a failed coup in Trinidad 1990 through the perspectives of the radicalised footsoldiers and the government ministers under attack. Themes of colonialism, idealism, corruption and compromise. I actually didn't get the connection to subsequent world events and Islamist attacks until I read another review!
May 17, 2025
The fictionalized retelling of the 1990 coup attempt in Trinidad, told from the perspective of several people caught up in the events. Young boys, manipulated by leaders and gangs, end up storming the capital buildings. Interesting for the perspective it gives into the minds of disenfranchised youth, furious and compelled to action, but with little understanding of what's happening around them.
November 7, 2017
An interesting take on revolts and both their immediate and their later effects both locally and internationally
April 6, 2020
It had a character with my name in it ....that's about all I have to say about it 💁
January 6, 2021
One of those rare books that tells a hard story, makes your brain work and is still somehow lovely.
December 2, 2024
Reallt interesting
July 10, 2021
A coup d'etat that went wrong, so easily and so quickly. The story is about a mixture of naive and idealistic men who try to better their Caribbean island by capturing their Parliamentarians. Neither their guns nor hostages help them achieve their goal. Roffey impressively tells the tale with credibility and emotional strength, focusing more on the characters than the horrifyingly sordid uprising. She clearly shows the good and bad on both sides of the issue and asks who are the imprisoned? The survivors have to live with the haunting experience all their lives.
Roffey writes with wisdom, using great descriptions and subtlety to portray the differing truths of that community. Read it!
Roffey writes with wisdom, using great descriptions and subtlety to portray the differing truths of that community. Read it!
January 31, 2020
Picked this up as it was the only other book of Monique's in print. Could've bought a second hand one I guess, but the subject piqued my interest. Its a based-on-real events piece of historical fiction, based on the 1990 coup attempt in Trinidad by a brotherhood of (to some extent) 'Islamic' rebels.
Its a great piece of work I think. Very well researched, strong on detail, without losing focus on the action. But above all its an attempt to insert and centre humanity into the event. Both the rebels and the hostages are all explored for their motivations, emotions and life experiences. She is sympathetic to everyone involved, and ultimately to the islands past and future as a whole.
I haven't explored it fully but it looks like this was a major moment in Trinidadian history. It was a failed coup, but it sent shockwaves. I wonder how her telling would go down amongst Trinidadians.
Overall she has trodden carefully, keeping critical of the coup attempt, and particularly the death and wider suffering it created, but maintaining a sympathy for those involved and their motivations.
The majority if it is claustrophobicly set within the besieged parliamentary palace, dovetailed with a little before and after, and I think having made it through to the end the story will stay with me, blending in as a lived memory.
Its a great piece of work I think. Very well researched, strong on detail, without losing focus on the action. But above all its an attempt to insert and centre humanity into the event. Both the rebels and the hostages are all explored for their motivations, emotions and life experiences. She is sympathetic to everyone involved, and ultimately to the islands past and future as a whole.
I haven't explored it fully but it looks like this was a major moment in Trinidadian history. It was a failed coup, but it sent shockwaves. I wonder how her telling would go down amongst Trinidadians.
Overall she has trodden carefully, keeping critical of the coup attempt, and particularly the death and wider suffering it created, but maintaining a sympathy for those involved and their motivations.
The majority if it is claustrophobicly set within the besieged parliamentary palace, dovetailed with a little before and after, and I think having made it through to the end the story will stay with me, blending in as a lived memory.
January 14, 2015
Inspired by the abortive 1990 political coup in Trinidad, about which I am now embarrassed to have registered so little, the author creates a similar drama in the fictional Caribbean island of Sans Amen. We are introduced first to the simple yet bookish and spiritual Ashes, haunted by the violent death of his freedom fighter brother in an earlier uprising. Under the influence of “The Leader”, charismatic head of a religious cult, Ashes is sucked into a plan to force concessions from the apparently corrupt and neglectful government, by occupying the main parliament building and taking hostages, including the Prime Minister.
The point of view switches between Ashes and Mrs Aspasia Garland, Minister for the Environment, and one of the more sympathetic of the hostages. In a situation which rapidly deteriorates and clearly cannot end well, the author uses her characters to explore their contrasting attitudes, the different experiences which have shaped them including colonisation, their developing perception of events and the way they handle the psychological trauma of a siege.
This reminds me strongly of another highly praised novel about a hostage-taking in a developing country, “Bel Canto”, yet I think “The House of Ashes” is technically superior in being more realistic and focussed on the complex issues of power, inequality and motivation without getting side-tracked into somewhat sentimental romances. On the other hand, what has the makings of an outstanding novel is undermined for me by the author’s tendency to repeat and over-labour points. It would have been much more powerful to have finished at the end of Part V with at most a brief epilogue, that is, omitting the final section, entitled “V1 L’Anse Verte 23 Years Later”. It is as if Monique Roffey is so absorbed in her characters that she cannot resist continuing to supply and analyse details long after the reader should have been left to reflect and reach his or her own conclusions. A minor irritant for me is the overuse of the West Indian term “steupsing”, the tendency to make a noise by sucking in air to express annoyance and derision. Yet perhaps this, and the patois which I enjoyed, give the story greater authenticity, demonstrating Roffey's genuine deep firsthand knowledge of life in Trinidad. Certainly, she creates vivid images of the dusty rundown city, the lush vegetation and Leatherback turtles dragging themselves up onto remote beaches to lay their myriads of eggs - from which most of the hatchlings are doomed to die in the struggle to survive.
The point of view switches between Ashes and Mrs Aspasia Garland, Minister for the Environment, and one of the more sympathetic of the hostages. In a situation which rapidly deteriorates and clearly cannot end well, the author uses her characters to explore their contrasting attitudes, the different experiences which have shaped them including colonisation, their developing perception of events and the way they handle the psychological trauma of a siege.
This reminds me strongly of another highly praised novel about a hostage-taking in a developing country, “Bel Canto”, yet I think “The House of Ashes” is technically superior in being more realistic and focussed on the complex issues of power, inequality and motivation without getting side-tracked into somewhat sentimental romances. On the other hand, what has the makings of an outstanding novel is undermined for me by the author’s tendency to repeat and over-labour points. It would have been much more powerful to have finished at the end of Part V with at most a brief epilogue, that is, omitting the final section, entitled “V1 L’Anse Verte 23 Years Later”. It is as if Monique Roffey is so absorbed in her characters that she cannot resist continuing to supply and analyse details long after the reader should have been left to reflect and reach his or her own conclusions. A minor irritant for me is the overuse of the West Indian term “steupsing”, the tendency to make a noise by sucking in air to express annoyance and derision. Yet perhaps this, and the patois which I enjoyed, give the story greater authenticity, demonstrating Roffey's genuine deep firsthand knowledge of life in Trinidad. Certainly, she creates vivid images of the dusty rundown city, the lush vegetation and Leatherback turtles dragging themselves up onto remote beaches to lay their myriads of eggs - from which most of the hatchlings are doomed to die in the struggle to survive.
February 11, 2016
Excerpted from the full review:
"Twenty four years have elapsed since the July 1990 attempted coup by the Jamaat al Muslimeen. Those who recollect the events of those six days in Trinidad and Tobago’s history do so with collective unease, channeling repressed fury and a kind of malaise that’s difficult to translate into common speech. This is what Monique Roffey’s fourth novel, House of Ashes (Simon & Schuster, 2014) seeks to do: to transubstantiate 1990’s Red House horror into fiction that grimly vows never to forget.
Roffey, whose third novel, Archipelago, was the winner of the 2013 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature, has in her new book a creative undertaking not dissimilar to a holy ritual, one replete with its own unfair allotment of both bodies and blood.
Narrative takes a three-pronged approach in House of Ashes. In addition to segments told in a mostly plot-propelling omniscient voice, the author employs two speakers to shoulder most of the novel’s heavily symbolic baggage. One of them, Ashes, is a mild-mannered, bespectacled scholar, a gentle academic who follows devoutly in the wake of the coup’s enigmatic Leader. Aspasia Garland, Minister for the Environment, is Roffey’s second principal mouthpiece. Garland is one of the government officials held hostage in the House of Power, by the Leader’s gun-toting lackeys (of whom Ashes is also a firearm-wielding, reluctant member.)
Through Ashes and Aspasia, the author works hard to show how terror may share a mutual cell of confinement, in the hearts of both terrorist and victim. Though he adheres to the faith-prescribed tenets of social justice that his Leader has invoked, in this storming of the island’s House of Power, Ashes struggles with doubt. It is Ashes, who, mid-skirmish during the storming of the House, perceives the absurd levy of so much violence."
You can continue reading my full review of House of Ashes at Novel Niche.
"Twenty four years have elapsed since the July 1990 attempted coup by the Jamaat al Muslimeen. Those who recollect the events of those six days in Trinidad and Tobago’s history do so with collective unease, channeling repressed fury and a kind of malaise that’s difficult to translate into common speech. This is what Monique Roffey’s fourth novel, House of Ashes (Simon & Schuster, 2014) seeks to do: to transubstantiate 1990’s Red House horror into fiction that grimly vows never to forget.
Roffey, whose third novel, Archipelago, was the winner of the 2013 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature, has in her new book a creative undertaking not dissimilar to a holy ritual, one replete with its own unfair allotment of both bodies and blood.
Narrative takes a three-pronged approach in House of Ashes. In addition to segments told in a mostly plot-propelling omniscient voice, the author employs two speakers to shoulder most of the novel’s heavily symbolic baggage. One of them, Ashes, is a mild-mannered, bespectacled scholar, a gentle academic who follows devoutly in the wake of the coup’s enigmatic Leader. Aspasia Garland, Minister for the Environment, is Roffey’s second principal mouthpiece. Garland is one of the government officials held hostage in the House of Power, by the Leader’s gun-toting lackeys (of whom Ashes is also a firearm-wielding, reluctant member.)
Through Ashes and Aspasia, the author works hard to show how terror may share a mutual cell of confinement, in the hearts of both terrorist and victim. Though he adheres to the faith-prescribed tenets of social justice that his Leader has invoked, in this storming of the island’s House of Power, Ashes struggles with doubt. It is Ashes, who, mid-skirmish during the storming of the House, perceives the absurd levy of so much violence."
You can continue reading my full review of House of Ashes at Novel Niche.
February 11, 2025
This makes for very sober reading. Monique Roffey takes us through a fictionalised and yet very familiar account of the 1990 coup in Trinidad, on a fictitious island - Sans Amen.
She doesn't shy away from the gory, horrific details. There's a vividness to this simple and clearly written story of six days of horror for hostages (and gunmen) within the 'House of Power.'
I've been drawn to read this for a long time, curious about how such events might have been fictionalised but I didn't know if I'd enjoy it - and I had no idea the narrative would land me directly into the action and keep me there for a full six days - before giving a couple of the characters a chance for redemption.
By creating an ending for this six-day siege which deliberately deviates from what happened, the author challenges us to consider various other possibilities and the morality of these.
There are many tangled points of view in this narrative, intentionally so. This reflects historically that there were both many tangled points of view at the time and ever since.
The characters Ashes, Breeze and Aspasia were the way this book engaged me and it is their perspectives, their pain and their motivations that tell the story.
House of Ashes is a book that challenges us to think, while urging us to explore rather than turn away from the history of the event.
I appreciated the book and made my way through it easily and with keen interest.
She doesn't shy away from the gory, horrific details. There's a vividness to this simple and clearly written story of six days of horror for hostages (and gunmen) within the 'House of Power.'
I've been drawn to read this for a long time, curious about how such events might have been fictionalised but I didn't know if I'd enjoy it - and I had no idea the narrative would land me directly into the action and keep me there for a full six days - before giving a couple of the characters a chance for redemption.
By creating an ending for this six-day siege which deliberately deviates from what happened, the author challenges us to consider various other possibilities and the morality of these.
There are many tangled points of view in this narrative, intentionally so. This reflects historically that there were both many tangled points of view at the time and ever since.
The characters Ashes, Breeze and Aspasia were the way this book engaged me and it is their perspectives, their pain and their motivations that tell the story.
House of Ashes is a book that challenges us to think, while urging us to explore rather than turn away from the history of the event.
I appreciated the book and made my way through it easily and with keen interest.
May 26, 2015
Based on the real life attempted coup in Trinidad in 1990, this tense and gripping novel follows the course of an attempted coup on the fictional island of Sans Amen in the Caribbean when a group of disaffected followers of the charismatic Leader storm and take possession of the House of Power, the seat of government. But nothing works out quite as they had planned and the situation soon deteriorates into violence and chaos, both within the building and outside. As events unfold each and every one of those involved is forced to re-evaluate their beliefs and theories and discover that what seemed so simple and justifiable in the planning soon becomes complicated and complex in the execution. I found this a compelling and convincing account of a political coup, with some excellent characterisation, well-plotted and well-paced, and very thought-provoking. An excellent read.
October 24, 2017
Thoughtful and thought provoking. Feb 2105
Re-reading in October 2017. The part of the book describing the siege is central and probably the most powerfully convincing. The characters and settings are engaging. The construction is tight. However there is a feeling for me that it is all constructed round an idea in a way that doesn't quite work. I felt a bit manipulated at some points by something a bit sentimental, pseudo-religious and slightly woolly. Nevertheless I still found it thoughtful and thought-provoking.
Re-reading in October 2017. The part of the book describing the siege is central and probably the most powerfully convincing. The characters and settings are engaging. The construction is tight. However there is a feeling for me that it is all constructed round an idea in a way that doesn't quite work. I felt a bit manipulated at some points by something a bit sentimental, pseudo-religious and slightly woolly. Nevertheless I still found it thoughtful and thought-provoking.
September 22, 2014
A poignant book about power, faith and identity. Tough going in parts as you would expect of any book reflecting on a coup d'eat. The sense of place and time is rich; I went looking for a sense of Caribbean culture and politics and wasn't disappointed. Some of the prose felt wooden in parts which let the book down for me but ultimately Roffey writes with such warmth and heart that I will definitely read her again.
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December 10, 2014This 2014 Costa Book Award shortlisted novel is by favourite read of 2014. It is a fictionalising of the holding hostage of the Trinidad parliament. It explores the mindsets of hostages and revolutionaries and is a good argument against staging a coup (just in case any of you were tempted). Highly recommended.
July 24, 2014
ever wonder what happens inside a coup? this is your novel. two men who are a part of it go through a cornucopia of thoughts and feelings. then and then 20 some odd years from when it happened. flinch once and you will miss the human side of it.
June 15, 2016
A beautiful melding of history and fiction. The characters are memorable, and the scenes of the five days of the insurrection are painted vividly and unforgettably. I read this book almost non-stop as I fell in and out of love with the characters.
February 27, 2015
A special book - I really enjoyed it. The subject matter (a revolutionary coup) was dark but the characters were realistic and multi-dimensional which made it a great read.
April 11, 2015
An excellent read! A convincing depiction of our nation's turmoil.
April 17, 2016
There are many layers to this book, which is a thought provoking read.
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