Stone Yard Devotional Audiobook By Charlotte Wood cover art

Stone Yard Devotional

A Novel

 Preview

Audible Standard 30-day free trial

Try Standard free
Select 1 audiobook a month from our entire collection of titles.
Yours as long as you’re a member.
Get unlimited access to bingeable podcasts.
Standard auto renews for $8.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Stone Yard Devotional

By: Charlotte Wood
Narrated by: Ailsa Piper
Try Standard free

$8.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $16.20

Buy for $16.20

BOOKER PRIZE SHORTLIST
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

“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

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 and The Natural Way of Things.
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. Literary Fiction Women's Voices Small Town & Rural Inspiring Heartfelt Women's Fiction Genre Fiction
Lyrical Writing • Thoughtful Storytelling • Excellent Narration • Beautiful Imagery • Profound Themes

Highly rated for:

All stars
Most relevant
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.

Quiet and powerful

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Despite being an atheist, he r at least not religious, the main character gives up on her life from before and submits to a life of quiet reflection in a convent. The observations about everyday power dynamics and societal norms and regrets, or at least observations of shortcomings, are haunting. A little too sparse for my taste, but still an excellent book.

Quiet contemplation

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
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.

Beautiful and interesting story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I appreciated that it didn’t tie up the action in a neat bow but let the reader ponder and speculate

Food for thought

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Grossness of mice throughout the story especially the description of what they look
like when eaten by others

Dialogue

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews