Stone Yard Devotional – Charlotte Wood

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A grieving, unnamed narrator attends a spiritual retreat at a convent, departs and returns again with no plan of leaving. As an atheist she is committed to giving back through hard work rather than praying. Set over Covid, the narrator finds herself fighting a plague of mice and preparing for the return of a former nun’s bones.

I used to think there was a ‘before’ and ‘after’ most things that happen to a person; that a fence of time and space could separate even quite catastrophic experience from the ordinary whole of life. But now I know that with a great devastation of some kind, there is no before or after. Even when the commotion of crisis has settled, it’s still there, like that dam water, insisting, seeping, across the past and the future.

● This is quite a philosophical book, examining existence and religion and humanity and womanhood, and running all these ideas into one cohesive story without them challenging each other for air. The idea of an atheist living at a convent shows how goodness comes in many forms and that another’s perspective of community can be different but just as important as your own. The inclusion of Covid as a timeline is a reminder that faith and working for the greater good pertain to more than just religion. It is a slow burn of a read, mimicking the crawling pace of grief, of the Covid years, of hard work and of the ageing nuns. I liked it and am glad it was shortlisted. – Rachel

●  If I was asked to summarise what Stoneyard Devotional was about I would say “not much really”, yet it somehow completely drew me in. I loved the petty interactions at the convent and the deep wonderings of the main character that, while revealing, often lead to nothing in particular. Fear not, there was still enough of a plot to keep a plot-driven reader engaged – even if at times it involved far too many mice. – Suzy

Published 2023
Allen & Unwin
320 pages