''A beautiful, mature work that does not flinch from life'' SUNDAY TIMES ''Both profound and addictively entertaining. I loved it'' CLARE CHAMBERS, bestselling author of Small Pleasures ''Its resonance is global . . . a powerful, generous book'' GUARDIAN ''Beautiful, strange and otherworldly'' PAULA HAWKINS, bestselling author of A Slow Fire Burning 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 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. 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.

Autorentext
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 was selected by the New York Times as one of their 10 best books of 2025. Earlier novels include The Natural Way of Things, which won the 2016 Stella Prize and was joint winner of the Prime Minister's Literary Award for Fiction, and The Weekend, which was an international bestseller. Her features and essays have appeared in the New York Times, Guardian, Literary Hub and Sydney Morning Herald, among others. Charlotte lives in Sydney with her husband.

Klappentext

⭐ SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2024 ⭐
⭐ A NEW YORK TIMES '10 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR' PICK ⭐
Washington Post's Top Ten Books of the Year 2025
Los Angeles Times 15 Best Books of 2025
New York Public Library's Books of the Year 2025
A Book of the Year 2024 for the Guardian, Sydney Morning Herald, ABC and BookRiot
'The fact that Stone Yard Devotional not only stays aloft but soars would seem to deny the laws of literary physics'
Ron Charles, Washington Post

'A beautiful, mature work that does not flinch from life'
Sunday Times

'Exquisite, wrenching'
New York Times

'I have rarely been so absorbed by a novel'
Guardian

'It leaves the reader feeling kinder, more brave, enlarged'
Anne Enright

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...

⭐ Shortlisted for the Victorian Premier's Literary Award
⭐ Shortlisted for The Age Book of the Year
⭐ Shortlisted for the ABIA Award for Literary Fiction
⭐ Longlisted for the Miles Franklin Award

Zusammenfassung
The new Booker-shortlisted novel by Charlotte Wood, bestselling author of The Weekend and The Natural Way of Things. A fearless exploration of forgiveness, grief and the complicated beauty of female friendship.