How do we reckon with our past when its complexities are hidden to us - history, with all its tragedies and contradictions, smothered by the Jamaican bush? This is the foundational question of A House for Miss Pauline , a beguiling novel of secrets and discoveries enriched by the tough poetry of Patois and animated by a central character you will never forget .>

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Diana McCaulay is a Jamaican environmental activist and the award-winning author of five novels. Winner of the Gold Musgrave Medal, Jamaica's highest award for lifetime achievement across the arts and sciences, and twice Winner of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize for the Caribbean region (in 2022 and in 2012), she has also been shortlisted for the IMPAC Dublin Award, among other nominations, and is the winner of the Watson, Little 50 Prize for unrepresented writers aged 50+.

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Winner of the 2026 RSL ONDAATJE PRIZE and the 2025 CARICON FICTION PRIZE
Shortlisted for the 2025 WILBUR SMITH ADVENTURE PRIZE

'The past is uprooted, the present holds on by thread, and in the midst of it all is Miss Pauline, strong, conflicted, driven and remarkable.' Marlon James, Booker Prize-winning author of Moon Witch, Spider King

'Delightful and big-hearted . . . It kept me turning pages deep into the night, and left me full of admiration at the end.' Guardian

'One of the Caribbean's finest writers.' Monique Roffey, author of The Mermaid of Black Conch

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 . . .

'History's crimes unfurl in this magical story . . . McCaulay's immaculate, breathtaking writing carries it with poise and conviction.' Lisa Allen-Agostini, author of The Bread the Devil Knead

'A vivid story of inheritance and belonging, informed by the author's own fascinating family history.' Daily Mail