{"id":30212,"date":"2025-02-26T08:18:54","date_gmt":"2025-02-26T13:18:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.carryonfriends.com\/?p=30212"},"modified":"2025-02-01T14:01:22","modified_gmt":"2025-02-01T19:01:22","slug":"read-carry-on-a-house-for-miss-pauline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/carryonfriends.com\/?p=30212","title":{"rendered":"Read &#038; Carry On: A House for Miss Pauline"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Official Book Synopsis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Set in the heart of rural Jamaica,&nbsp;A House For Miss Pauline, tells the captivating, tender tale of Pauline Sinclair\u2014a fiercely independent 99-year-old Jamaican woman who built her own home from the ruins of a plantation. As she faces her 100<sup>th<\/sup>&nbsp;birthday, the old stones of her house begin to rattle and shift and call out mysterious messages, prompting her to reckon with long-buried secrets from her past. Lyrical, funny, eerie, and urgent, infused with the patois and natural beauty of Jamaica. A House For Miss Pauline&nbsp;asks profound questions about ancestry, colonialism, and ownership of the places where our identities are forged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:100px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">My Review<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sometimes you pick up a book and it feels like sitting down with an elder who\u2019s full of stories, wisdom, and history. That\u2019s exactly how I felt reading\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/a\/14127\/9781643757223\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">A House for Miss Pauline\u00a0by Diana McCaulay<\/a>. This novel is an absolute gem\u2014a heartfelt tribute to Jamaican women, you know the matriarchs who carry generations on their backs, often quietly and without recognition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This book caught my attention immediately because it\u2019s set in Jamaica\u2014not Kingston, but St. Mary. My grandfather was from St. Mary, and I spent countless summers in Highgate. As I read, I could picture it all\u2014the lush greenery, the winding roads to Port Maria, and even the subtle changes in the landscape after Hurricane Gilbert. For me, this wasn\u2019t just a story. It was a portal back to childhood summers and family connections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Miss Pauline\u00a0is the story of a nearly 100-year-old woman living in rural St. Mary. After her house is destroyed in a hurricane, she builds a new home using stones from a nearby plantation ruin\u2014stones that carry a dark and complicated history. As she approaches her centennial birthday, strange things begin happening: the stones shift and speak at night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Faced with these whispers of history, Miss Pauline embarks on a journey of atonement, enlisting the help of her granddaughter, who has her own challenges living abroad. The book weaves together themes of intergenerational relationships, family secrets, and a deep connection to place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:40px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What I Loved About This Story<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There\u2019s so much to love about this book, but let me start with the setting. McCaulay doesn\u2019t just describe St. Mary\u2014she makes it come alive. I\u2019ve read plenty of books set in Jamaica, but they\u2019re often centered in Kingston. To see a rural parish take center stage was a breath of fresh air. It reminded me of the Saint Mary I know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Miss Pauline herself is unforgettable. She\u2019s tough, no-nonsense, and deeply rooted in her community, but she\u2019s also layered with vulnerability. She reminds me of so many Jamaican women\u2014the ones who\u2019ve worked tirelessly to hold their families together, often without thanks. McCaulay captures that essence so well, paying homage to the matriarchs who rarely make it into history books but who shape our lives nonetheless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The story also explores intergenerational relationships in a way that hit close to home for me. Growing up, I was my grandmother\u2019s &#8220;hand bag&#8221;, going everywhere with her. Those moments were formative, but as I\u2019ve gotten older, I\u2019ve realized how much we lose when those relationships aren\u2019t nurtured. Miss Pauline\u2019s relationship with her family, especially her granddaughter, felt so authentic\u2014complicated, loving, and full of unspoken truths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Another standout theme was the juxtaposition of old and new. McCaulay paints such a vivid picture of rural life where traditions\u2014like the local post office or library\u2014still hold on, even as modern technology creeps in. For me, as someone who returns to Jamaica as a visitor, it\u2019s fascinating to see these coexisting worlds. It makes you nostalgic for a simpler time while also appreciating the conveniences of today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:40px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Final Thoughts<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you love Caribbean literature, stories about strong women, or books that explore the complex ties between family, history, and place, this one\u2019s for you. It\u2019s also a great read if you\u2019ve ever been curious about life outside Jamaica\u2019s bustling cities\u2014this book is a love letter to rural Jamaica and its people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A House for Miss Pauline is the kind of story that stays with you. It\u2019s about atonement, family, and the quiet strength of women who carry the weight of generations. Diana McCaulay has written a book that feels deeply personal and universal at the same time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:69px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">About the Author<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Diana McCaulay&nbsp;is a recognized Jamaican environmental activist and the award-winning author of five novels. Diana was born and lives in Kingston, Jamaica, is Winner of the Gold Musgrave Medal, Jamaica&#8217;s highest award for lifetime achievement across the arts and sciences; 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+. is a founding editor of&nbsp;<em>Pree<\/em>, an online magazine for Caribbean writing, and is currently also working on an anthology of environmental writing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Official Book Synopsis Set in the heart of rural Jamaica,&nbsp;A House For Miss Pauline, tells the captivating, tender tale of Pauline Sinclair\u2014a fiercely independent 99-year-old Jamaican woman who built her own home from the ruins of a plantation. As she faces her 100th&nbsp;birthday, the old stones of her house begin to rattle and shift and&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2011,"featured_media":30187,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"_wp_convertkit_post_meta":{"form":"-1","landing_page":"","tag":"0","restrict_content":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[107],"tags":[172,305],"class_list":["post-30212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","tag-read-carry-on","tag-reviews"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carryonfriends.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carryonfriends.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carryonfriends.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carryonfriends.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2011"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carryonfriends.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=30212"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/carryonfriends.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30212\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30254,"href":"https:\/\/carryonfriends.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30212\/revisions\/30254"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carryonfriends.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/30187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carryonfriends.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carryonfriends.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=30212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carryonfriends.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=30212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}