Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood is a literary novel on self-reflection and journey, forgiveness, and finding peace while understanding grief. Fans of In This House of Brede will be familiar with the theme of a woman suddenly devoting her life to a nunnery. While Stone Yard Devotional is not as advanced in theme or story complexity, it nonetheless allows the reader to dive into the life of the female protagonist, who I believe remains nameless throughout the novel. I enjoy reading novels such as these from time to time simply due to their calming presence and hope to learn something from them as well.
People who choose this life are not supposed to go around causing such terrible pain to people. It’s cruel. Yet I know this much: everyone here has hurt someone by coming.
Female Protogonist
Stone Yard Devotional reads more like a diary and it didn’t take long before I was completely hooked. I love it that while she’s telling of her day-to-day experiences living and working in the nunnery, there would often be what seem like random retellings of important events and memories from when she was either a child or during her teen years. Some are very short memories and it’s up to the readers on what to make of it, if anything. The novel consists of around four main themes from what I gathered: the mice plague, sister Helen Parry, the burying of Jenny, and of course, the protagonist herself. I think the best part for me was about the story of young Helen and of the protagonist herself.
It isn’t something I ever told anyone – how could you say this? – but the lift and descent of that sheet, the air inside it, the peace when it setttled, showed me what I wanted. I knew it in that moment, but it took years to find it.
Female Protgonist
If you’re looking for a calming, gentle, and reflective read, this novel should be right up there on your list. Although many would think that entering a nunnery is a selfless act, it shows here that it can also hurt a lot of the people around you as well. This was something I had hoped the author would spend more time on. Although there may be some questions that seemingly are left unanswered at the end, I believe it’s intentional. Our female protagonist reflects back on her life, the choices she made growing up, with some she’s proud of and others not so much, and realizing how much more she should have cared for her mother and trying to understand her better after her death are all part of what led her to where she is now.
The Mindless Catalog 
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