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dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A hard one to characterise. In diary-like snippets, a woman reveals her inner life - memories, hopelessness, regrets, distress, disgust, and almost no passions or joys whatsoever - as they play out in the rural convent into which she escaped from her career, husband and friends in middle age. She's an atheist who has adopted the life of a nun but doesn't outright reject god, even as she seems to be confused by and judgmental of the other nuns' devotion. There's no clear dangers from which she's escaped other than despair (the worst sin, she acknowledges), and she never seems to find enduring peace beyond an acceptance of her discomfort with living. It's sparse, vivid and brutal in places, and much of it feels very cold. That said, it's quite beautiful in a way I wasn't prepared for and didn't really realise until I've reflected on it to write this down.
A lot of the book plays out like a journal documenting her daily life in the early Covid-19 period, with a plague of mice, the return of the remains of a nun formerly in their convent, and a visit from a figure from her childhood all bringing up pain, doubt and unresolved/unresolvable memories. It's very reflective, and offers few answers about its themes or the character's struggles. She is troubled and remorseful, but never really comes across as a bad person despite it running throughout the book that she abandoned many people, and one version of her life, to lead a radically different one, and that the change never really provided her the fulfilment she sought. In one of the most memorable sections, she remembers the last act she took in her career before joining the convent for good: unsubscribing from all the email lists and organisations which would have kept her informed about climate change, environmental degradation, activism. One by one she leaves them, and instead adopts this semi-ascetic life of worship, cooking and gardening. In fact, I don't think there are any memories noted in the book that relate to what she actually did in her career - only the relationships she formed, lost or abandoned. Even her former husband barely gets a line, just that he was sad when she left.
The whole thing sort of washed over me while reading it, and only on occasion did it feel like anything stood out, but every page contained something memorable and specific when I flicked back through after finishing it. Perplexing and very thought provoking - it's pretty amazingly put together.
A lot of the book plays out like a journal documenting her daily life in the early Covid-19 period, with a plague of mice, the return of the remains of a nun formerly in their convent, and a visit from a figure from her childhood all bringing up pain, doubt and unresolved/unresolvable memories. It's very reflective, and offers few answers about its themes or the character's struggles. She is troubled and remorseful, but never really comes across as a bad person despite it running throughout the book that she abandoned many people, and one version of her life, to lead a radically different one, and that the change never really provided her the fulfilment she sought. In one of the most memorable sections, she remembers the last act she took in her career before joining the convent for good: unsubscribing from all the email lists and organisations which would have kept her informed about climate change, environmental degradation, activism. One by one she leaves them, and instead adopts this semi-ascetic life of worship, cooking and gardening. In fact, I don't think there are any memories noted in the book that relate to what she actually did in her career - only the relationships she formed, lost or abandoned. Even her former husband barely gets a line, just that he was sad when she left.
The whole thing sort of washed over me while reading it, and only on occasion did it feel like anything stood out, but every page contained something memorable and specific when I flicked back through after finishing it. Perplexing and very thought provoking - it's pretty amazingly put together.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse
Moderate: Murder
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Starts well, promising an observant,, unsentimental account of monastic life as experienced by an introspective late entrant. As others have noted, it quickly gets bogged down in gory descriptions of the mouse-plague. Towards the end, the book becomes an assemblage of fragmentary reflections on death, bereavement and loneliness - including anecdotes about suicide, assisted death, martyrdom, etc, that begin to feel gratuitous. The story held a strange fascination that kept me reading to the end but when I got there, I found nothing resolved. A depressing read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying
Moderate: Cancer, Suicide
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is a surprise: a book centred on a small, old enclave of religious sisters. Visitors to the enclave are the narrator, and, later, a woman she had been at school with. And it's contemplative and thoughtful rather than mawkish and simplistic. At times it feels autobiographical. So much so I had to check her bio. It is unpredictable and odd. I liked it a lot.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Chronic illness, Death, Eating disorder, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Pandemic/Epidemic
dark
reflective
A strange and somewhat unpleasant book. The narrator comes to an abbey first in order to leave her life and to purge the past; and then, to reflect on how her memories have become her, irrevocable, but perceived differently in a new setting, a changed aspect. The book seems to say that to be alive, especially to be “good,” is to be unsettled. The romantic ideal of the nun—a vocation, a penance, a peaceful solitude—is disturbed by an infestation of mice (their dead bodies shovelled into a mass grave), by small annoyances between the sisters, by ruminations on cancer and mental illness, and by a sad, defiant sort of shame that hangs about the existence of women trying their utmost to disappear into a flawed Catholic image. A worthwhile, though not enjoyable novel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Bullying, Mental illness, Suicide, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation
Minor: Child abuse, Child death
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Eating disorder, Suicide, Terminal illness, Death of parent
Moderate: Gun violence, Sexual assault
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This book captivated me - and somehow felt about everything and nothing at the same time.
Even though this to me was a "quiet book," within this story occurs an infestation, violence against women/family, and deep grief. But the themes that struck a chord for me were ones of regret... the consequences of big and small decisions... what it means to resist convention and expectations. The decision to take action or lead by quiet example in a world that feels impossible to endure.
I really enjoyed this. My favorite line - "The silence is so thick it makes me feel wealthy."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death of parent
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Quiet, but interesting and deep.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Bullying, Grief, Death of parent
Minor: Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Terminal illness, Colonisation, Classism, Pandemic/Epidemic
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Death, Grief, Death of parent, Toxic friendship
Moderate: Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Suicide, Terminal illness, Pandemic/Epidemic
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
An unnamed woman retreats to a monastery in her childhood town after visiting her parents' graves. The story unfolds with a deliberate slowness that mirrors the contemplative rhythm of monastic life, building meaning through an accumulation of small moments rather than dramatic plot turns. What emerges is a quietly profound meditation on spirituality, climate grief, and the search for meaning in a world that feels increasingly apocalyptic.
What strikes me most powerfully about Wood's novel is how it explores spirituality without leaning on religion. The narrator—deliberately unnamed throughout—is an atheist who once worked at a Threatened Species Rescue Centre but has become overwhelmed by the seeming futility of her environmental efforts. Her retreat to the monastery isn't a religious conversion but rather a desperate seeking—a need to immerse herself in service and stillness as the world outside grows increasingly chaotic.
In a literary landscape often fixated on action, this novel centres on interior transformation and stillness, which I imagine creates a great unease for many readers. The novel beautifully illustrates how spirituality can exist outside of religious belief. Through simple routines, mindful observation, and communion with nature, the protagonist finds a form of transcendence that doesn't require faith in God but rather emerges from attention to the present moment. As she quotes from Simone Weil: "attention, taken to its highest degree, is the same thing as prayer."
The tension between religious tradition and personal spiritual practice mirrors contemporary struggles to find meaning in an era of increasing uncertainty.
Wood's depiction of climate grief is devastatingly accurate. The mouse plague that descends upon the monastery—a direct consequence of climate change—serves as both literal invasion and powerful metaphor. The visceral descriptions of mice overrunning every space mirror the way climate anxiety infiltrates every corner of consciousness.
When "celebrity nun" Helen Parry arrives, bringing news of the outside world's continuing collapse, we see the tension between withdrawal and engagement. Is retreat a form of cowardice or preservation? Is activism futile or necessary? Wood offers no easy answers but presents these questions with nuance and care.
Through these contrasting approaches to crisis, Wood invites us to question our own responses to overwhelming global challenges. For me the protagonist's retreat is deeply relatable—who hasn't fantasised about escaping overwhelming responsibilities?—yet also profoundly uncomfortable, raising difficult questions about privilege, duty, and whether withdrawal is ever truly justifiable.
By withholding the protagonist's name, Wood creates a character who has deliberately shed her identity—both as an act of escape and as a stripping away of the self. This anonymity transforms her into a universal vessel for larger questions: How do we live with our mistakes? How do we find meaning when traditional structures fail us? How do we respond to a world in crisis? She could be any of us grappling with climate despair, seeking refuge while questioning our own complicity.
The novel's greatest achievement is its compassionate portrayal of different responses to overwhelming grief—whether it's the protagonist's retreat, Helen's activism, or the nuns' devotion. Each represents a valid human attempt to make meaning in the face of seeming hopelessness.
In an age of climate crisis and spiritual uncertainty, Stone Yard Devotional offers not answers but companionship—a thoughtful exploration of how we might find purpose and peace even as the world we've known falls apart around us.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Grief, Death of parent
Minor: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Good one sitting read
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Terminal illness, Death of parent
Minor: Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Mental illness, Suicide, Murder