Dog-Heart

Told in two voices, educated Jamaican English and the nation-language of the people, this dramatic novel tells the story of a well-meaning, middle-class woman and a young boy from the ghetto whom she desperately wants to help. Alternating between the perspectives of the woman and the boy, the story engages with issues of race and class, examines the complexities of relationships between people of very different backgrounds, and explores the difficulties faced by individuals seeking to bring about social change through their own actions. The dramatic climax and tragic choices made grow from the gulf of incomprehension between middle-class and poor Jamaicans and provide penetrating insights into the roots of violence in impoverished communities.

Shortlisted for the Guyana Prize Caribbean Award 2011.

Dog-Heart is a novel about the well-meaning attempt of a middle-class single mother to transform the life of a boy from the ghetto who she meets on the street. Set in present-day, urban Jamaica, Dog-Heart tells the story from two alternating points of view – those of the woman and the boy. They speak in the two languages of Jamaica that sometimes overlap, sometimes display their different origins and world views. Whilst engaging the reader in a tense and absorbing narrative, the novel deals seriously with issues of race and class, the complexity of relationships between people of very different backgrounds, and the difficulties faced by individuals seeking to bring about social change by their own actions.

"Diana McCaulay''s debut novel Dog-Heart is a harsh and poignant tableau ... exploring the relationship between poverty, education, and crime, and tying those back to a national history of violence, violation, and wilful neglect. McCaulay, an environmental activist, submitted her then-unpublished manuscript to the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission''s National Creative Writing Competition in 2008 and won the gold medal... The book is a passionate plea for child poverty alleviation couched in a laudable literary format."
Lisa Allen-Agostini, Caribbean Review of Books

• | Author: Diana McCaulay
• | Publisher: Peepal Tree Press Ltd
• | Publication Date: Mar 15, 2010
• | Number of Pages:
• | Language:
• | Binding: Paperback / softback
• | ISBN-13: 9781845231231
• | ISBN-10: 1845231236