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A review by tnchlls
Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
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