Dialogue Books acquires Diana McCaulay's book about ownership, land and identity

Dialogue Books has acquired Diana McCaulay’s A House for Miss Pauline — a book about ownership, land and identity.

Editorial director Hannah Chukwu acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Laetitia Rutherford at Watson, Little in an exclusive submission, and US rights have been sold to Betsy Gleick at Algonquin Books. Publication is scheduled for February 2025.

"Written in patwa-inflected prose, A House for Miss Pauline tells the story of Miss Pauline, a woman living in rural Jamaica who builds herself a house from the stone ruins of a plantation," the synopsis says. "But her quiet ascent to security and a stone-strong home of her own is set to crumble when the stones of that house seem to grind and speak back at her."

The synopsis adds: "On the brink of her 100th birthday, afflicted with these night terrors, Miss Pauline is forced to reckon with her life. With a sense of foreboding in her bones, she questions the rightness of her actions, and sets off on a journey that will change everything."

McCaulay is a Jamaican environmental activist and the author of five novels. She is the 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. She has also been shortlisted for the IMPAC Dublin Award, among other nominations, and is the winner of the Watson, Little 50 Prize.

The author, who was also a founding member of the online magazine Pree and a judge for the 2021 Commonwealth Writers Prize, said: "A House for Miss Pauline had its genesis in the 2020 lockdown when I had plenty of time to think about a long-standing preoccupation – how and where people build their shelters, and who gets to call a place home."

Chukwu said: "Diana is a wonderful writer, whose work feels fresh and original. Her words are a complete joy to be immersed in, and I completely fell for our protagonist – she is such a strong, warm and nuanced character, and her voice shines throughout the text. There is a real beauty in the cadence and rhythm of her storytelling, and I loved Diana’s decision to create space for an older protagonist in the novel."