Book Synopsis:
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.
But disquiet soon interrupts this secluded life. First, the skeletal remains of a sister who disappeared decades before are returned to the monastery, resurfacing years of grief and pain. And then, an unexpected and troubling visitor plunges the narrator further into her past…
Book Review:
Stone Yard Devotional is a quietly powerful, moving book that has stayed with me.
In the book we follow an unnamed, middle-aged protagonist who has joined a Women’s monastery (interestingly not called a convent in the book) to escape a difficult marriage and to get away from life. The quiet and tranquillity of the setting allows her to reflect on her life and past experiences from school and her childhood. I found it fascinating to follow her throughout her daily life at the monastery and to learn more about her past, especially what brought her to the monastery in the first place.
I though the book had a slow, steady pace to it (perhaps to match the slow pace of the monastery) though it was incredibly readable with just enough happening to ensure I kept reading. We follow the main protagonist as she meets up again with a girl everyone bullied at school and deals with a mouse plague that brings a lot of violence to their otherwise quiet existence. Some of her recollections were quite emotional to read about, particularly her experiences as a child that seemed to still haunt her as an adult. I found myself thinking about my own experiences and what my own attitude would be in a similar situation.
Overall I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be recommending it to others. I buddy read this with my sister and we both wondered whether the mouse plague was meant to symbolise something profound that went over our heads. I think it would make a great book club read as I think there would be a lot to discuss.
About The Author:
Charlotte Wood is the author of seven novels and three books of non-fiction. Her novel Stone Yard Devotional was shortlisted for the 2024 Booker Prize and other awards. It was described by the UK Guardian as ‘a quiet novel of immense power’ and as ‘extraordinary’ by Ron Charles at the Washington Post who wrote, ‘The fact that “Stone Yard Devotional” not only stays aloft but soars would seem to deny the laws of literary physics.’ It has also been praised by authors Anne Enright, Tim Winton, Karen Joy Fowler, Hannah Kent and Paula Hawkins among others.
Her previous books include The Luminous Solution, a book of essays on the creative process; the international bestseller, The Weekend; and The Natural Way of Things which won a number of prizes including The Stella Prize and the Prime Minister’s Literary Award. Her features and essays have appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, Literary Hub, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Saturday Paper among other publications.
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