A House for Miss Pauline

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Pub Date 27 Feb 2025 | Archive Date 6 Mar 2025

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Description

'One of the Caribbean's finest writers . . . Her novels are building blocks of the current Caribbean canon and will be read for years to come.' Monique Roffey, author of THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH

'History's crimes unfurl in this magical story . . . McCaulay's immaculate, breathtaking writing carries it with poise and conviction. This novel is poetry' Lisa Allen-Agostini, author of THE BREAD THE DEVIL KNEAD

'Where has Diana McCaulay been all my reading life? . . . A profound and beautiful novel of encounters with the past and atonements in the present' Julia Alvarez, author of THE CEMETERY OF UNTOLD STORIES

When the stones of her home begin to rattle and call out to her in the quiet of the night, Pauline Sinclair knows she will not live to see her 100th birthday.

From educating herself through stolen books to becoming one of the most successful ganja farmers in the area and raising a family, Pauline has lived a life on her own terms in Mason Hall, a rural Jamaican village.

Yet these whispering walls promise to topple the foundations of her security and exhume Pauline's many buried secrets, including the mysterious disappearance of the man who came to claim the very land on which she built her home, stone by stone, from the ruins of a plantation.

Compelled to make peace before she dies, Pauline decides to leave the only home she has ever known on a final, desperate mission to uncover truths she could never have imagined . . .

Lyrical, funny, eerie and profound, A House for Miss Pauline tells a timely and nuanced tale, infused with the patois and natural beauty of Jamaica, which questions who owns the land on which our identities are forged.

'One of the Caribbean's finest writers . . . Her novels are building blocks of the current Caribbean canon and will be read for years to come.' Monique Roffey, author of THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH

'...


Available Editions

EDITION Hardcover
ISBN 9780349704272
PRICE £20.00 (GBP)
PAGES 320

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Average rating from 8 members


Featured Reviews

Miss Pauline is nearly one hundred years old, but as the date of her birthday approaches she begins to hear the stones of her house shifting in the night, begging for her attention. She knows she needs to put her house in order, literally and metaphorically or she feels she won't make one hundred. The past and the future are woven deftly together in the strands of this story about slavery, emancipation and blood and what that means for a sense of home. A brilliantly written slice of history, held taut by a deftly plotted, magical realist story, with an emphasis on the real.

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What a special novel

A story about a 100 y ear old woman looking back on her life and making peace, chasing ghosts and looking at the world around her.


There is culture and patois in the story and it weaves its magic through every page. What a treasure to behold! The author mentions the reasons behind her writing the story at the end and it was really interesting her personal link to the stories within.

Can't wait to see what others think.

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This is the story of Miss Pauline Sinclair who is approaching her 100th birthday when the stones and history of her house begin to speak to her in the middle of the night. But what are they trying to tell her and what must she do to find peace.The characters in this book are just wonderful particularly the feisty foul mouthed Miss Pauline and I just loved her relationship with Lamont, the teenager dragging her into the modern world as he helps her unravel some of her secrets. I had not read any novels by this author before but I loved the rural Jamaican that she painted which felt so real I could almost feel the heat and taste the food. A novel of a long life and history but also of the land and belonging and ownership. I thoroughly recommend this novel and will certainly be reading more of this authors backlist now I have discovered her. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this novel in return for a honest review.

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In this tender wise book we meet 99 year old Miss Pauline, cussing, straight talking, iron strong, full of courage, wearing a cutlass under her skirt, who now lives alone in her house, built with her baby father Clive and his friends, from stones, repurposed from a former plantation house, built by enslaved people. But Miss Pauline is unraveling and conflicted.

Jamaican author Diana McCaulay thoughtfully explores the brutal, haunted history of slavery, grappling with what this history and it's legacy has meant for modern Jamaicans. She looks at architecture and buildings as repositories for human stories. I so enjoyed the rhythm, richness and integrity of Miss Pauline's voice as she observes and unfolds her life and secrets for us the reader. She reminded me of my mother in law which I found very moving. This is a beautiful, deep book that I am still thinking about days after finishing.

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Diana McCaulay's "A House for Miss Pauline" follows a nearly 100 year-old woman named Pauline who wants to correct all her past mistakes before she dies. Pauline explores her past and her history through the lens of colonialism and slavery. We see how struggle and oppression have made her into the woman she is in the present day. There is a mystery in Miss Pauline's past, and the past relates to history and we can never escape history and its effects on our lives.

It was so refreshing to read a novel set in Jamaica because we don't usually get novels set there. The language and the culture add richness and context to Pauline's story. This is another winner from Diana McCaulay.

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'A House for Miss Pauline' is a brilliant work of postcolonial fiction inspired by some aspects of the author's family history in Jamaica.

The narrator, Miss Pauline, lives alone in the village of Mason Hall in a house built from the stones of the former slave master's home. Just before she turns 100, she starts hearing messages that tell her that she will die soon and that she needs to confront past secrets. So she summons her granddaughter from New York and embarks on a journey to uncover the truth.

This book is a joy to read, not least because of Miss Pauline's narrative voice which combines foul-mouthed complaints about the modern world with evocative descriptions of her connection to the land. The book effectively interleaves incidents from her past life, including the sexual abuse she received as a schoolgirl and her later successful career as a ganja farmer, with her present-day quest which maintains an element of mystery and intrigue. But the novel also becomes a wider exploration of Jamaican history, slavery and ownership, and offers hopeful ideas of how we might move forward from past trauma.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an ARC of this superb novel to review!

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