Stone Yard Devotional

SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE
SHORTLISTED FOR THE PRIME MINISTER'S LITERARY AWARD
SHORTLISTED FOR THE VICTORIAN PREMIER'S LITERARY AWARD
SHORTLISTED FOR THE AGE BOOK OF THE YEAR
SHORTLISTED FOR THE ABIA AWARD FOR LITERARY FICTION
SHORTLISTED FOR THE BARBARA JEFFERIS AWARD
LONGLISTED FOR THE MILES FRANKLIN LITERARY AWARD
BOOK OF THE YEAR, SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
BOOK OF THE YEAR, ABC
NEW YORK TIMES TEN BEST BOOKS OF 2025
WASHINGTON POST TOP TEN BOOKS OF 2025
LA TIMES TOP 15 BEST BOOKS OF 2025

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 Monaro plains. 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.

A meditative and deeply moving novel from one of Australia's most acclaimed and best-loved writers.

'Extraordinary . . . a stunning work of fiction from a major writer who keeps getting better.' THE AUSTRALIAN

'Remarkable . . . I'm still trying to figure out how she pulled it off. The best thing she's done.' TIM WINTON, author of The Shepherd's Hut

'I have rarely been so absorbed by a novel . . . A powerful, generous book.' THE GUARDIAN

'It extends and deepens Wood's already remarkable achievements as a novelist in powerful and often profound ways.' THE SATURDAY PAPER

'A beautiful, mature work that does not flinch from life.' THE SUNDAY TIMES

'A book about what it means to be good: simply and with great humility, it asks the big questions, leaving the reader feeling kinder, more brave, enlarged.' ANNE ENRIGHT, author of The Wren, The Wren

'Beautiful, strange and otherworldly.' PAULA HAWKINS, bestselling author of A Slow Fire Burning

'Both profound and addictively entertaining. I loved it.' CLARE CHAMBERS, bestselling author of Small Pleasures

'No words can quite convey how much I loved this book.' KAREN JOY FOWLER, author of Booth

'Wood joins the ranks of writers such as Nora Ephron, Penelope Lively and Elizabeth Strout.' THE GUARDIAN UK

'Extraordinary . . . Stone Yard Devotional not only stays aloft but soars.' Ron Charles, THE WASHINGTON POST