Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood

The writing here could be described as plain and simple. No excessive use of language, just journal notes written by an un named woman who lives with nuns. Not a nun herself, but someone who went on a retreat and then just ended up staying because everything seemed right and she found her purpose.

Everyone has a backstory, and in amongst the descriptions of her monastic life there a little snippets of memory where she recalls her mother and sometimes her schooldays. One of her memories is of a member of her class who was generally despised by all the others even though this girl, Helen Parry, was a troubled child whose mother beat her and sometimes left her alone for weeks. No one ever did anything about it, and even the school turned a blind eye rather than get involved because Helen was always difficult and confrontational.

As an adult Helen Parry had also become a nun, but not in the traditional sense where she would be part of an enclosed order and take the veil, she was more of a progressive nun who travelled the world as an activist against injustice. When Helen comes to stay at the narrator's convent for a while, she is not a good fit as there are aspects of her behaviour that the others find irritating, and she makes little attempt to fit in with the convent routines.

The narrator is made uncomfortable by Helen's presence as she feels guilty for having taken part in the collective bullying that went on at school, and she looks for an opportunity to apologise ,although she is not sure that it would help either of them.

The whole story takes place in Australia during the period of the world-wide pandemic when the area around New South Wales was also tormented by a plague of mice. There were so many mice that the nuns were eventually forced to abandon their original decision not to kill them, and these two plagues form the backdrop to other events.

This is not a story that you enjoy necessarily, but it is honest about the way women deal with the many different paths we follow in life. Nuns are still human, and prayer does not necessarily shield them from harsh emotions and long buried guilt. It's an interesting read and the setting makes the book compelling. It was shortlisted for the 2024 Booker Prize and Charlotte Wood is a best selling author.

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