Author Polly Dugan joins the Spotlight to discuss her latest novel
Author Name: Polly Dugan
Book Title: The House of Cavanaugh
Book Genre: Literary/Upmarket Fiction
Release Date: October 7, 2025
Publisher: Sibylline Press
Welcome, Polly! How would you describe The House of Cavanaugh?
Fifty years after Joan Cavanaugh’s affair with Peter ‘Hutch’ Hutchinson in 1964 in New York City, and twenty-five years after her death, in 2014 a 23andMe kit reveals the shocking paternity of Joan’s middle daughter, Anne, and two friends in Portland discover they share a sister.
What sparked the idea for this book?
In 2010, when both my sons were in full-day elementary school, I returned to working as an instructor at Guide Dogs for the Blind, a job I held before starting a family, and I wrote during my lunch breaks. The story, “Legacies,” which introduces Joan Cavanaugh, was one result of those lunch break writing sessions and is included in my first book, the linked story collection, So Much a Part of You.
After they read it, several readers asked me if the main character in that story honored Joan’s dying wish, and when I thought about it—that the conclusion of that story leaves ‘the door ajar’ for what could come next—I realized there was a lot more to Joan’s story that I hadn’t even considered or begun to tell. This novel begins where “Legacies” leaves off.
Another factor was something I don’t think is uncommon for people to experience in even the healthiest, most committed relationships or marriages, and that is at some point to feel taken for granted by their partner or spouse, and to encounter unexpected admiration or attention from someone outside the relationship. I explored that dynamic in this novel and took it to an extreme with high stakes and reverberating consequences.
Also, as a result of losing my mother in 2003 eight months after I became a mother, grief and loss are central and recurrent themes in my work, along with complicated family dynamics, marriage, friendship and secrets. This book has all these elements. I write about what I love to read about.
How long did it take for you to write the book? Did you do any research?
It took close to ten years to write this book and there were several reasons it took that long to complete. I started writing it in 2014, after finishing my first novel, and right away with this project I had challenges deciding point of view, and which characters earned one, and determining how this buried secret comes to light if Joan takes it to her grave—that alone made me feel I’d written myself into a corner, which I admittedly had.
I was also busy raising my family and then the combination of the 2016 election, the Black Lives Matter movement and the Covid pandemic and lockdown all made me feel distracted, unmoored, anxious and powerless. And during that time, it honestly felt frivolous to be working on fiction, making up stories about imaginary people—although I know that’s what readers turn to to escape from real life—I know I do. At that same time, I knew the landscape of the publishing industry was also changing, in part due to those same factors mentioned above, so I was evaluating what the market wanted compared to when I published my first two books, and if the new book I was writing would be able to find its place as the industry was evolving and adapting.
Yes, I did do research, which finally gave the novel some momentum that it desperately needed. I have a dear friend who has three children from two marriages, and while obviously she knows her kids’ respective paternities, I asked the three of them to do 23andMe tests so that I could accurately implement into the novel how the platform’s portal reports a half-sibling relationship.
If you were speaking to someone who hasn’t read your writing before, why should they want to read The House of Cavanaugh?
Part of the motivation for every book I’ve written is that it’s one I’d want to read, and my writing has been influenced in part by my favorite authors. If you like accessible literary and upmarket fiction, particularly if you’re drawn to family sagas featuring complicated female characters, and writing that explores emotional depth, loss and resilience, and makes you laugh and cry, I think you would love The House of Cavanaugh. I’m particularly excited about the book’s publication date because the novel has pivotal scenes take place in the fall, and at Thanksgiving and Christmas. And, if you liked my linked story collection, the novel revisits a family featured in half of the stories in my first book. And, if you have a book club, I’d love to meet with you!
I also find it fascinating timing that in August The New Yorker published an article, “The Family Fallout of DNA Surprises,” by Jennifer Wilson. I hope people intrigued by that story will be interested in fiction that explores that phenomenon.
Fans of which authors or books might gravitate toward your book? I hope The House of Cavanaugh would appeal to fans of Melissa Bank, Katherine Heiny, Elise Juska, Alice McDermott, Susan Minot, Anna Quindlen, Dani Shapiro, Curtis Sittenfeld, Emma Straub, Elizabeth Strout, Anne Tyler and Meg Wolitzer. They are all literary influences of mine, and some of my favorite ‘desert island’ authors.
What about the writing/editing/publishing process has been the most surprising to you so far?
This is my third published book, and the two most surprising things I’ve found about the publishing process are experiences I believe register with most published authors: the unpredictability of a book’s success, and the sheer volume of superb books the market produces.
When my first two books were published, my advance was generous and surprising, which I interpreted as my publisher’s optimistic forecast of how well the books would perform: the hope being that my books would find their readers resulting in some measure of critical and/or financial return. Having worked in New York publishing in the late 1980s and been a bookseller at Borders and Powell’s before I became a published author, I know there are a multitude of factors that can affect a book’s success, and they are often beyond an author’s or publisher’s control.
My first book came out when the contractual stand-off was happening between my publisher and Amazon, which affected all my publisher’s titles negatively—especially debuts—which no one could have predicted, and a circumstance for which there was no way to course correct for missing the interest and momentum which typically accompany a book when it first comes out.
The second surprise is that even when you’re a published writer, or just a dedicated reader, and are reliably connected to literature and literary communities and outlets—with all the resources available to any of us—publishing is a firehose that puts extraordinary books out into the world every week, from publishers of all sizes, and it’s impossible to keep up. I’ve discovered that unless I’m following an author closely to know what they’re publishing next, or an author is a well-known, household name, I’m going to miss some gems.
Here’s an example: Three years ago, I was working with an editor who had reviewed the manuscript of The House of Cavanaugh, and for the purpose of specific feedback she’d given me, recommended I read Happy All the Time by Laurie Colwin, which I thought I’d read years earlier, but couldn’t recall. So I picked up a relatively recent edition with an introduction by Katherine Heiny, a writer I had never heard of.
The introduction was wonderful, and Colwin’s novel is extraordinary. But, when I looked up Katherine Heiny, and subsequently binge read all her books, which I absolutely love, I couldn’t believe that I hadn’t known of her and these books in real time, when they were published in 2015, 2017 and 2021.
My takeaway from these two things is that authors must be their books’ greatest advocates and do everything they can to give them their best chances once they’re out in the world.
Any words of wisdom you give your pre-published writer self (or to a new writer)?
For anyone to be a writer, I would say they truly have to first identify as a life-long reader. From a young age, books were my rewards for good behavior, getting through dentist appointments and always part of my Christmas lists, and if I could bottle and market a scent, it would be the smell of my childhood, hometown library. And for years before I ever attempted to pursue writing seriously, I kept a journal (I still have them all), and I believe that’s where I started to find my voice, and certainly where I excavated my own observations and experiences of the human condition.
Also, I think it’s invaluable—and not easy—to find writers close to your experience level who you can swap work with for feedback, keeping in mind the goal is for mutually respectful, honest and useful input, in the interest of everyone’s work progressing. It’s virtually impossible to see the flaws in our own writing. And to that same end, if you can attend a writing workshop, do it! Also, if you have a finished manuscript, and want professional feedback, there are fabulous writers who offer suites of services with a variety of offerings for what a project might need.
Try to create a writing practice that is realistic to stick to in order to become sustainable. Like any good habit, consistency is necessary for success. And, for days that feel difficult, or when you may be blocked (I’m familiar), there are so many excellent craft books with fabulous advice and prompts to get you back to the page with ideas that can take you in directions that would never have occurred to you.
Accept the first draft of anything is going to be awful, strive for every subsequent one being better than the last. And be a good literary citizen.
What are your interests outside of writing and reading?
What else is there? I’m often participating in a virtual book club, called FrizzLit, with other participants who are so well-read and smart, and it’s an extraordinary community to be part of. We’ve read books and authors I never have (Middlemarch, Great Expectations, A Room with a View, to name a few), although I was an English major and am a voracious reader. It’s the brainchild of Christopher Frizzelle, who started the book club during the pandemic, and just founded a new independent publishing company, FrizzLit Editions, which released its first title in August.
I love a good podcast, and my favorites are Family Secrets, Wiser Than Me and Serial. I listen to them when I walk, which I try to do several times a week. Walking and Pilates are my picks for exercise.
My husband and I own a home in Manzanita, on the Oregon Coast, and we love being there as much as we can. I am happiest when I am near an ocean and it’s a very special community to be part of especially when we’re there for extended periods of time.
I have two black Labrador retrievers and a brown tabby cat and sharing my life with animals is a necessity for me. I welcomed my first dog into my life as an adult in 1991, and since then I’ve never been without a dog, historically owning two, ever since. Having had a career in the animal care industry, working at different times at the Oregon Humane Society, Guide Dogs for the Blind and Dove Lewis, animal welfare and the human-animal bond are passions of mine. Last year I completed a Companion Animal End-of-Life Care program through the University of Vermont and since then I have supported animal owners through ‘putting their pets to peace,’ a facet of pet ownership that in my experience is the most painful. I’m trying to determine how I might turn this service into a regular practice.
My sons are 22 and 20, a newly employed college graduate, and a college junior, respectively. They are my favorite people. Two of my favorite things to do our family is together are playing pickleball and board games. My dearest friends, chosen family really, mean the world to me. Family and friends are my ongoing sources of joy.
I love living in the Pacific Northwest, eating out (seafood and Italian are my favorites), good wine, sunny days in Portland and Manzanita— especially during the summer—and the perfect tomato.
Where can readers find you?
My website is www.pollydugan.com. The House of Cavanaugh is my third book and revisits a family who appear in five stories in my first book, a linked collection, So Much a Part of You (2014); a year later I published my first novel, The Sweetheart Deal (2015). I am on Facebook and Instagram. I have upcoming events at Powell’s in Portland on October 13th, with the official launch in conversation with Emily Chenoweth; in Manzanita, Oregon on October 17th where I’ll also be offering a writing workshop there on October 18th; at two other independent bookstores in Portland, Annie Bloom’s and Broadway Books, in early November; and at Elliott Bay in Seattle on December 5th in conversation with Laurie Frankel. Any additional events will be updated on my website and social media platforms. Please find and follow me!
Thank you Sarahlyn! All these questions were terrific! I hope you and your followers will check out my work!
Thank you, Polly! The House of Cavanaugh is available for PREORDER.
The House of Cavanaugh
A long-buried secret. A friendship on the brink. A family forever changed.
New York City, 1964. Joan Cavanaugh-a young wife and mother yearning for more falls into a passionate affair with Peter “Hutch” Hutchinson. When the affair ends, she returns to her marriage, raising three daughters with her devoted husband, Graham. For nearly three decades, she keeps her secret locked away, taking the truth of her daughter Anne’s paternity to her grave when she succumbs to cancer in 1989.
Portland, 2014. Carolyn Cavanaugh and Julia Hutchinson are next door neighbors and the closest of friends. But when Carolyn’s father, Graham, visits for Thanksgiving, his path collides with Julia’s parents, Hutch and Alice. The revelation that unfolds following Graham’s trip upends both families, bringing a truth to light that will shake two families to their core.
As decades of deception unravel, bonds are tested, loyalties waver, and the meaning of family is forever redefined.
Author Bio:
Polly Dugan is a Tin House Summer Workshop alum and the author of the linked story collection, So Much a Part of You, and the novel, The Sweetheart Deal. Her short fiction and essays have appeared in The Dickinson Review, Narrative, Line Zero, ModernLoss.com and Huffpost.com. She lives in Portland and Manzanita, Oregon with her family.