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Polly Dugan’s The House of Cavanaugh Unravels Decades of Kept Secrets and Redefines Family Bonds

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The House of Cavanaugh: A Novel book cover

Polly Dugan, Author, House of Cavanaugh: A Novel

Available Wherever Books Are Sold from Sibylline Press

SAN DIEGO, CA, UNITED STATES, October 7, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Sibylline Press proudly announces the release of The House of Cavanaugh: A Novel by acclaimed author Polly Dugan. With lyrical prose and emotional depth, Dugan delivers a gripping story about two families bound by love, betrayal, and a long-buried secret that refuses to stay hidden. The novel is available NOW in paperback and e-book formats everywhere books are sold.

In 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 devoted husband, Graham, raising three daughters while keeping her secret locked away. For nearly three decades, Joan carries the truth of her daughter Anne’s paternity to her grave.

Fast forward to Portland, 2014, where Joan’s daughter Carolyn and Hutch’s daughter Julia live next door to one another—inseparable friends unaware of the connection that binds them. But when Graham Cavanaugh visits for Thanksgiving, the past resurfaces, and the revelation that later follows threatens to upend both families, forcing them to reckon with the consequences of a secret kept for half a century.

Praise for The House of Cavanaugh:
“Polly Dugan is a wise and sensitive writer, and with this beautiful novel she’ll break your heart.”
— Edan Lepucki, NYT bestselling author of Time’s Mouth and California

“A brilliant, gripping novel built around the secrets we keep from the world, and the ones we keep from ourselves. Polly Dugan writes like a dream. Her sentences are piercing and true. This book takes clean aim at the messy truths of the human heart.”
— Steve Almond, author of All the Secrets of the World and Truth Is the Arrow, Mercy Is the Bow

Upcoming Author Events
October 13, 2025 – Portland, OR - In Conversation with Emily Chenoweth at Powell’s City of Books
October 17, 2025 – Manzanita, OR - Author Appearance at Hoffman Center for the Arts
November 4, 2025 – Portland, OR - In Conversation with Laura Stanfill at Annie Bloom’s Bookstore
November 6, 2025 – Portland, OR - Four Sibyls Bring Their Novels to Broadway Books
December 5, 2025 – Seattle, WA - Polly Dugan Brings The House of Cavanaugh to Elliott Bay Book Company

About the Author
Polly Dugan is the author of the linked story collection So Much a Part of You and the novel The Sweetheart Deal. Her short fiction has appeared in Narrative and Line Zero, and she is a contributing author to Before and After the Book Deal by Courtney Maum. A graduate of Dickinson College and the Denver Publishing Institute, Dugan has worked at Powell’s Books and Guide Dogs for the Blind. She is a Tin House Summer Workshop alum and a former submissions reader for Tin House magazine. She lives in Portland and Manzanita, Oregon, with her family.

The House of Cavanaugh: A Novel
By Polly Dugan
FICTION
PUB DATE: October 7th, 2025
Page Count: 201
TRADE PAPER: 9781960573469 | $18
EBOOK: 9781960573520 | $9.99

About Sibylline Press:
Sibylline Press publishes the brilliant work of women authors over 50, exclusively. Founded in August 2022, Sibylline is owned by eight women of a certain age (six of whom are also authors). The press currently publishes more than 50 titles a year. Recently, they launched a new imprint, Sibylline Digital First, to publish more work from women over 50 with new titles published every Friday as part of their “Pub Date Fridays” campaign. Sibylline Press titles encompass the genres of fiction (commercial and literary, as well as mystery, adventure, fantasy, and romance) plus memoir. Sibylline Press takes its name from the Sibylline Scrolls, the ancient writings of wise older women, the Sibyls. More at sibyllinepress.com; and follow us on FB and IG @sibyllinepress.

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The House of Cavanaugh: A Novel Book Trailer

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