Stone Yard Devotional

A Novel

By: Charlotte Wood

Narrated by: Ailsa Piper

A NEW YORK TIMES TOP TEN BOOK OF THE YEAR
A WASHINGTON POST TOP TEN BOOK OF THE YEAR
A LOS ANGELES TIMES TOP FIFTEEN BOOK OF THE YEAR

Shortlisted for the 2024 Booker Prize, a novel about forgiveness, grief, and what it means to be good, from the award-winning author of The Weekend.

“Stone Yard Devotional is as extraordinary as you’ve heard.” —The Washington Post

“An exquisite, wrenching novel of leaving your life behind.” —New York Times Book Review

"Meditative (but by no means uneventful)." —New York Times

"Riveting prose about how humans beat back despair."—Los Angeles Times

Burnt out and in need of retreat, a middle-aged woman leaves Sydney to return to the place she grew up, taking refuge in a small religious community hidden away on the stark plains of rural Australia. She doesn't believe in God, or know what prayer is, and finds herself living this strange, reclusive existence almost by accident.

But disquiet interrupts this secluded life with three visitations. First comes a terrible mouse plague, each day signaling a new battle against the rising infestation. Second is the return of the skeletal remains of a sister who disappeared decades before, presumed murdered. And finally, a troubling visitor plunges the narrator further back into her past.

Meditative, moving, and finely observed, Stone Yard Devotional is a seminal novel from a writer of rare power, exploring what it means to retreat from the world, the true nature of forgiveness, and the sustained effect of grief on the human soul.

Quiet and powerful

The author allows us into the complex interior life of the protagonist and the sanctuary she’d been drawn to. Questions about life, responsibility, awareness, and death are seamlessly integrated into the narrative. Beautiful, insightful writing.

Gorgeous, meditative, provocative

I wasn’t sure at first if I would enjoy this as reading about religious retreats is not my thing and I’m not a fan of the Catholic Church. But I was hooked by the narrative voice, the lyrical writing, and heartfelt dilemmas at this novel’s core. How do we manage the multiple anxieties that have become part of daily life for so many of us? What does it mean to retreat? There will always be weather, memories, our aging and its attendant powers and fears. Mice infestations can come for us all. I started listening one day and finished it the next. Will surely reread and recommend to others.

Subtle and real

The narrator’s voice was really soothing. The story was as much an homage to the narrator’s mother and her mother’s kind nurturing ways as anything. Wise women both mother and daughter. Loved it!

Beautiful and interesting story

I thoroughly enjoyed this quiet, thoughtful story. It is one woman's experience and reminiscences on life and nature set in a unique time of pandemic, yet able to be separate from the chaos of the world. The narration was excellent and I would highly recommend this book.

Food for thought

I appreciated that it didn’t tie up the action in a neat bow but let the reader ponder and speculate