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Stone Yard Devotional
- Narrated by: Ailsa Piper
- Length: 6 hrs and 36 mins
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Stone Yard Devotional
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Summary
A novel by Charlotte Wood, the Stella Prize-winning author of The Natural Way of Things and The Weekend.
A fearless exploration of forgiveness, grief and the complicated beauty of female friendship.
Burnt out and in need of retreat, a middle-aged woman leaves Sydney to return to the place she grew up, finding solace in a small religious community hidden away on the stark plains of the Australian outback. She doesn't believe in God, or know what prayer is, and finds herself living this strange, reclusive existence almost by accident.
As she gradually adjusts to the rhythms of her new life, she ruminates on her childhood in the nearby town, turning again and again to thoughts of her mother, whose early death she can't forget.
But disquiet interrupts this secluded life with three visitations. First comes a terrible mouse plague, each day signalling 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.
Critic reviews
'[T]ackles weighty themes - guilt, loss, forgiveness - and manages to be both profound and addictively entertaining. I loved it.' (Clare Chambers, bestselling author of Small Pleasures)
'Beautiful, strange and otherworldly, Charlotte Wood's latest novel is an absorbing mediation on grief, forgiveness and our relationship to the natural world.' (Paula Hawkins, no. 1 bestselling author of A Slow Fire Burning)
'Intelligent and nourishing, Stone Yard Devotional shows us the mysteries of human relationships, asking who can and should bestow forgiveness. This novel is subtly powerful and utterly engrossing.' (Claire Fuller, author of Unsettled Ground)
What listeners say about Stone Yard Devotional
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- MEB
- 17-08-24
Enjoyable read but not exceptional
This is a quiet, low-key novel, in which little happens and little is resolved. The book is well-written and well read, I enjoyed the narrator's company for the duration, but there is no story-arc as such and not much in the way of character development. Enjoyable enough but why it's nominated for an award escapes me. As an exploration of the female monastic life, I think Sylvia Townsend Warner's "The Corner that Held Them" is a more rewarding read. On the plus-side, the environmental "message" is subtly conveyed and the reader need not feel preached at.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Barbaramcdonagh
- 09-08-24
The layers of an onion 🧅
It took me a while to invest in the narrator and this book .However ,I was thoroughly engrossed as the little pieces of a very fine jigsaw came together .Grateful .
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- tina price
- 10-08-24
Beautiful
An absolutely beautiful piece of contemplative writing. The narrator discusses her move back to her home town to join a monastic community. Despite an unclear faith and doubts about her ability to pray, she returns to face up to grief and sorrow, thinking deeply and carefully about her past life and the way she now lives. Her mother, such a loss to her, walks gently through the novel, living her life in retrospect, to her own values and standard.
This is not a gripping yarn but a beautiful exploration of grief and living a life as well as possible. Highly recommended.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- A reader
- 25-07-24
Beautifully read and moving story
I loved this book - the narrator is wonderful at conveying the protagonist's grief as she accepts she needs to escape her world and, while not religious, finds solace in a religious community. The form is interesting - lots of pauses and gear changes as the protagonist records her new life in the quiet community and looks back on her life before. Very moving, in part because of the outstanding and perfectly paced narration.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
Sense of place
For some reason I started out thinking this was a memoir, rather than a novel, so found it gripping. However, having realised that it was actually a novel I was ultimately disappointed… I felt there should have been more resolution at the end, and I ultimately thought what is the point?? I think the author has a duty to resolve, or at least point to something in the future and I was disappointing not to get this.
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