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Stone Yard Devotional: A Novel

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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. Read more

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Riverhead Books


Publication date ‏ : ‎ February 11, 2025


Language ‏ : ‎ English


Print length ‏ : ‎ 304 pages


ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 52


Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1 pounds


Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.18 x 1.12 x 9.26 inches


Best Sellers Rank: #5,012 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #53 in Women's Friendship Fiction #60 in Contemporary Women Fiction #181 in Literary Fiction (Books)


#53 in Women's Friendship Fiction:


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Top Amazon Reviews

    • A Great Novel
Format: Hardcover
I really liked this novel. The writing was smooth and lovely; the plot surprisingly engrossing; the narrative thought-provoking. Excellent book.
Reviewed in the United States on January 9, 2026 by Brent Sargent
    • Read it slowly.
Format: Hardcover
Necessary to get into the groove of what Charlotte Wood is saying. Can't rush through this book. I tried listening to it on Audible while reading the text and while that worked somewhat I never got submerged in the book like I think it needs.
Reviewed in the United States on December 24, 2025 by C. Cage
    • don’t get it
Format: Kindle
I found it laboring, depressing and to be honest, could not finish it. I’m not sure what I was expecting but this wasn’t it.
Reviewed in the United States on August 31, 2025 by Donna J. Murphy
    • Subtle and deep
Format: Hardcover
Not much happens in this novel and the characters aren't entirely likeable. The writing is clear and serviceable but neither poetic or especially literary. But if you hang with it, you will be richly rewarded by the interesting and original insights offered by the narrator and the author by the last 30-40 pages. What does it mean to forgive and be forgiven? What does it mean to be compassionate? The novel is set in a simple convent and the action revolves around the daily care and upkeep of the facility and the relationships -- extremely carefully navigated -- between those who live, visit and assist at it. It's a very quiet novel. I reread the last 30 or so pages multiple times to ponder the ideas, insights and experiences of the characters and was richly rewarded for my efforts. Really enjoyed and highly recommend this novel. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on December 6, 2025 by Elizabeth A. Gibson
    • A thoughtful, fictitious journal – but is it a novel?
Format: Kindle
“We prayed about this. Or at least they did, and I thought closely…” (p75) This is the (fictitious) journal of a wounded soul who seeks renewal in a small, isolated community of Catholic nuns. The protagonist, while introspective, isn’t the least bit religious. The journal is quite interesting – pithy, sharp, thoughtful, and sometimes deep. Without saying so explicitly, the writer invites the reader to ponder the life the writer has chosen. How does monastic life differ from the “real world”? How is it the same? Does the experience lead to renewal? Or does it simply reveal who we already are? And what happens when one’s former life intersects (collides with!) the monastic experience? Curiously, the protagonist is largely silent about a significant chapter in her life; I suspect this inexplicable, gaping hole is its own commentary on these questions. But is this a novel? In my view, not so much. While there are certainly themes, metaphors, and a few story lines that unite the text, this is largely what you’d expect from a journal: a loosely connected collection of short, informal reflections, asides, anecdotes, and non sequiturs. If that’s what the author was shooting for, fair enough. And if this were the diary of a deceased loved one, it would likely be emotionally moving, perhaps even life changing. But figuratively flipping through a fictitious family album is interesting only for a while, and it isn’t particularly satisfying. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on March 6, 2025 by DJ
    • Brilliant beautifully written novel
Format: Kindle
Charlotte Wood is an exceptional writer. "Stone Yard Devotional" is filled with stories galore that reveal significant characteristics of the protagonist and other characters. The novelist gives her readers important details about a complex fictional universe of complex people and places, events and memories, and their social worlds. Wood has created a fictional world informed both by history and current events. Her descriptions of the lives of believers and skeptics are spot on. Her exquisite descriptions of end-of-life and other extremely difficult events, both local and international, add depth and meaning to the plot. The locations, including churches, hospitals, farm houses, fields, and animal shed, are vividly and imaginatively described. I am recommending this book to several friends and my book club. I also intend to read it again and order Wood's other novels. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2026 by Brooklyn reader
    • Beautiful Book and a Worthy Successor to Rumer Godden's In This House of Brede
Format: Kindle
What an excellent way to start the new year--with a book as engrossing and thought-provoking (or maybe I should say feelings-provoking) as Stone Yard Devotional. I am a lifelong atheist myself, a product of 12 years of Catholic schools, and someone with a fascination with the idea of choosing to live apart for whatever the reason. This book's description grabbed me, given that one of my favorite books is Rumer Godden's In This House of Brede, which deals with many of the same subjects. I think it is a worthy successor to that fine book. A woman who is an atheist decides at an age when she is much too old to be a traditional postulant to "join" a Catholic order of nuns. It's never clear, really, if she becomes a nun or is just somehow living there. But it doesn't matter. Her reflections on the life and its meaning are just as valid. We don't really learn precisely why she joined, and she seems unsure herself, but she does share thoughts and feelings about life, death and forgiveness that apply to people no matter how they choose to live. Earthly corruption grows everywhere and finds its way into the abbey, testing its residents. Each person understands and deals with events in their own way. But no one escapes it and no one can truly escape the fears and demons from their own past. Living a monastic life is sometimes described as leaving your life behind, but that's not really right. No one can do that. This book is a meditation on the idea that uour past and your grief for what you've lost are always with you. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on January 6, 2026 by Lydia Fazio Theys
    • Unusual story
Format: Hardcover
Worth the effort
Reviewed in the United States on August 21, 2025 by Paula Vestermark

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