Dr Johnson’s House are thrilled to welcome 2026 Ondaatje Prize winner Diana McCaulay for a conversation on her profound and brilliant new novel.
A House for Miss Pauline: Diana McCaulay & Sara Collins in Conversation
When the stones of her home begin to 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 . . .
Lyrical, funny, eerie and profound, A House for Miss Pauline tells a timely and nuanced tale, infused with the patois and natural beauty of Jamaica, which questions who owns the land on which our identities are forged.
WINNER - 2026 Royal Society for Literature Ondaatje Prize
‘An evocative and powerful novel of belonging, with a fabulously eccentric protagonist, which complicates everything we assume about colonial history in all the right ways.' Claire Armitstead, 2026 RSL Ondaatje Prize Judge
Ticket includes a welcome drink, book signing and a chance to explore Dr Johnson's House.
Doors open & welcome drink 6pm.
Talk starts 6.30pm.
Event ends 8pm.
Please note, we have limited capacity and early booking is recommended.