A House for Miss Pauline

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