A House for Miss Pauline
A Novel
Diana McCaulay
- Starring
- an
- unforgettably
- fierce
- ninety-nine-year-old
- Jamaican
- heroine,
- this
- “profound
- and
- beautiful
- novel”
- transports
- readers
- to
- the
- heart
- of
- rural
- Jamaica
- with
- a
- tender
- and
- urgent
- story
- about
- who
- owns
- the
- land
- on
- which
- our
- identities
- are
- forged
- (Julia
- Alvarez).When
- the
- stones
- of
- her
- house
- begin
- to
- rattle
- and
- shift
- and
- call
- out
- mysterious
- messages
- to
- her
- in
- the
- middle
- of
- the
- night,
- Pauline
- Sinclair,
- age
- ninety-nine,
- knows
- she
- will
- not
- make
- it
- to
- her
- one-hundredth
- birthday.
- She
- has
- lived
- a
- modest
- life
- in
- Mason
- Hall,
- a
- rural
- Jamaican
- village,
- educating
- herself
- with
- stolen
- books,
- raising
- her
- two
- children,
- surviving
- by
- becoming
- a
- successful
- ganja
- farmers
- in
- the
- area,
- and
- experiencing
- both
- deep
- passion
- and
- true
- loss
- with
- her
- beloved
- baby
- father,
- Clive.Behind
- this
- seemingly
- benign
- façade,
- however,
- Miss
- Pauline
- has
- buried
- many
- secrets.
- To
- avenge
- her
- enslaved
- ancestors,
- she
- has
- built
- her
- house,
- stone
- by
- stone,
- from
- the
- ruins
- of
- a
- plantation
- on
- her
- land.
- And
- she
- knows
- more
- than
- she
- has
- told
- about
- the
- disappearance
- of
- Turner
- Buchanan—a
- white
- American
- man
- who
- came
- to
- Mason
- Hall
- decades
- ago
- to
- claim
- her
- land.
- The
- whispering
- stones,
- Miss
- Pauline
- realizes,
- are
- telling
- her
- that
- she
- must
- make
- peace
- with
- the
- past
- before
- she
- dies.With
- help
- from
- her
- American
- granddaughter,
- Justine,
- and
- Lamont,
- a
- teenager
- she
- enlists
- to
- help
- her
- navigate
- the
- mysteries
- of
- the
- Internet,
- she
- searches
- for
- those
- she
- has
- wronged.
- But
- as
- the
- people
- and
- stories
- of
- her
- past
- come
- to
- invade
- her
- present,
- she
- discovers
- that
- there
- are
- shocking
- secrets
- even
- she
- could
- not
- have
- anticipated.Lyrical,
- funny,
- eerie,
- and
- profound,
- infused
- with
- the
- patois
- and
- natural
- beauty
- of
- Jamaica,
- A
- House
- for
- Miss
- Pauline
- tells
- a
- timely
- and
- nuanced
- story
- about
- identity,
- colonialism,
- and
- land—and
- introduces
- an
- unforgettable
- heroine
- who
- is
- a
- model
- for
- living
- life
- on
- her
- own terms.
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