First published in 1944,The Building of Jalna is one of sixteen books in the Jalna series written by CanadasMazo de la Roche. InThe Building of Jalna, Adeline, an impulsive bride with an Irish temper, and her husband, Captain Whiteoak, select Lake Ontario as the site of their new home. De la Roche chronicles their trials and tribulations during the building of the house, the swimming and skating parties, and the jealousies and humourous events that arise. This is book 1 of 16 inThe Whiteoak Chronicles. It is followed byMorning at Jalna.

In 1927, Mazo de la Roche was an impoverished writer in Toronto when she won a $10,000 prize from the American magazineAtlantic Monthly for her novelJalna. It became an immediate bestseller. She went on to publish sixteen novels in the popular series, about a Canadian family named Whiteoak living in a house called Jalna. She created unforgettable characters who come to life for her readers, but was secretive about her own life and tried to escape the public attention fame brought.