“Miss Pauline thinks about the meaning of land. She knows it’s not eternal. If it can be owned, it can be stolen or sold and new owners can do as they please with it, excavate it down to bedrock and deeper, lay it to waste. Even weather wages war against land, land can shake and rend and tear itself apart. And once people arrive, land ceases to be itself. It becomes the place where human events unfolded, it becomes its memories, ghosts and tragedies.”

Ninety-nine-year-old Miss Pauline Evadne Sinclair, a resident of the small village of Mason Hall, St. Mary parish, Jamaica, takes the noises she hears at night—whispers she believes are coming from the shifting stones her house is made of—stones extracted from the ruins of a white slaveholder's home—as an omen signaling that her time on earth will soon come to an end. Miss Pauline has led an eventful life and has braved many storms, but she has held her own and lived life on her own terms. Though she lives alone, she has a lifetime of memories—some happy and others not—that keep her company, among which are secrets that have haunted her for most of her adult life. Believing she doesn't have much time left, Miss Pauline decides the time has come to find the people she has wronged and confess. She engages Lamont, a local teenager, and her U.S.-based granddaughter, Justine, to help her in her venture. The narrative follows Miss Pauline as she recalls the significant events and people that have defined her life while embarking on a journey to confront her demons and own up to her wrongdoings—an endeavor that will lead to revelations she could not have imagined.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading A House for Miss Pauline by Diana McCaulay. A well-structured narrative, an interesting cast of characters and strong character development make for an engrossing read that revolves around themes of family and community, resilience, racial identity and much more. The vivid imagery and descriptive writing transport the reader to Mason Hall, Jamaica. Miss Pauline is an admirable protagonist - brave and resilient - and I thought the author has done a brilliant job of not only capturing her personality, thoughts and emotions but also life in a small Jamaican village from the lens of our protagonist. The element of magical realism was well embedded in the story and the author deftly incorporates the history of the village and the legacy of colonialism and slavery in Jamaica into the narrative establishing how the same shapes the lives of our characters. I enjoyed Miss Pauline’s interactions with Lamont and loved how they grew to trust one another. The author injects a fair share of lighter moments into the narrative. I particularly enjoyed Miss Pauline’s experience with the internet/social media which was both realistic and amusing. I did wish Justine had been featured more in the narrative, but I was satisfied with how the story gradually unfolds. The pacing does falter in parts, but read with a bit of patience, this novel is certainly a rewarding read.

“What people build holds their stories, buried, it’s true, but sometimes a new fissure lets them escape to find all who might listen. And there are many different witnesses to a life.”

Do read the exquisitely penned Author’s Note where she discusses the people, events and places that inspired this work of fiction.

Many thanks to Algonquin Books for the digital review copy of this novel via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.