Award-winning Jamaican writer Diana McCaulay joins novelist, screenwriter and broadcaster Sara Collins for a special conversation exploring McCaulay’s acclaimed novel A House for Miss Pauline.
Set in rural Jamaica, the novel centres on Pauline Sinclair, a woman approaching her 100th birthday who has spent her life fiercely protecting her independence, her family and the home she built for herself stone by stone.
But the stones of Pauline’s house begin to stir memories and secrets that have remained buried for decades. Her home itself was constructed from the ruins of a plantation, placing questions of ownership, colonial history, inheritance and belonging at the heart of the story.
Pauline’s extraordinary life has taken her from educating herself using stolen books to becoming a successful ganja farmer and raising a family in the village of Mason Hall. As the foundations of the world she created begin to shift, she sets out on a final journey to confront the past.
McCaulay is a Jamaican writer and environmental activist whose work frequently explores the relationship between people, landscape, history and power.
She will be joined by Sara Collins, author of The Confessions of Frannie Langton, for a conversation examining fiction, Jamaica, colonial histories, land, memory and the stories through which identities are created.
The ticket includes a welcome drink, the conversation, a book signing and an opportunity to explore Dr Johnson’s House.
Doors open at 6:00pm, with the conversation beginning at 6:30pm and finishing at approximately 8:00pm.
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