Monique Roffey Quotations

New Year's Eve is not about having a big party for me. It's a time of reflection, and I often go on spiritual retreats.

What I always knew about my parents was that they were in love, and this love had a fizz. It was exciting to be their child, to be around them. There was a dynamism between them, a charge.

Long-term heterosexual monogamy is still the dominant model: men and women still want to pair for a long period of time.

I made myself unhappy measuring my love against a given norm. The truth is, we make ourselves happy in among a wide variety of loves; all count.

Born on an island, I could swim before I could walk, thrown many times into swimming pools and warm transparent Caribbean waters: sink or swim, that was my first lesson. While I'm not a natural athlete, I'm still a strong swimmer and feel a great affinity with the sea.

The person I love most is the Dalai Lama. China destroyed his country, yet he says that it's imperative we show love for the Chinese.

While I am most at home in London, I cannot really label myself as either British or Trinidadian. I write in the English language and live in the U.K. I find it hard to say that I am an entirely British writer, especially when I supported Trinidad in the 2006 World Cup and also support the West Indies cricket team.

My parents had a long and eventful marriage and were always a bit like movie stars to me when they were young.

I talk to myself. It's my worst habit. I often muse aloud, or, when people drive me crazy, I curse them aloud. I might do a ranting monologue about how pissed off I am about them, occasionally forgetting that they might still be in the room; now, that's weird!

At the age of 62, my father died of cancer - it was much too soon. My mother never remarried or got over it, never even thought of another man.