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Stone Yard Devotional
- Narrated by: Ailsa Piper
- Length: 6 hrs and 36 mins
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Publisher's Summary
A woman abandons her city life and marriage to return to the place she grew up, finding solace in a small religious community hidden away on the stark plains of the Monaro.
She does not believe in God, doesn't know what prayer is, and finds herself living this strange, reclusive life almost by accident. As she gradually adjusts to the rhythms of monastic life, she ruminates on her childhood in the nearby town. She finds herself turning again and again to thoughts of her mother, whose early death she can't forget.
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 left the community decades before to minister to deprived women in Thailand—then disappeared, presumed murdered.
Finally, a troubling visitor to the monastery pulls the narrator further back into her past.
With each of these disturbing arrivals, the woman faces some deep questions. Can a person be truly good? What is forgiveness? Is loss of hope a moral failure? And can the business of grief ever really be finished?
A meditative and deeply moving novel from the Stella Prize-winning author of The Natural Way of Things and The Weekend.
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What listeners say about Stone Yard Devotional
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- Stardust
- 02-02-2024
I keep listening to this over and over.
As mentioned by other reviewers, this book has not really got a storyline, which unaccountably seems to frustrate some types of readers. Not me. Not others here too. This book is a strangely addictive collection of musings, recollections, perspectives, and shared guilty truths. But it's also a really gentle read. Hard to describe. Very easy to listen to. Narrator is perfect for it too.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Christine
- 17-11-2023
A different type of tale to my usual listen.
I almost binged this, I couldn't stop listening.
Not sure even now what it was really about.
It doesn't have a plot or or a high point but it it is strangely compelling and I really needed to hear it out.
Narrator was great, with a calm pleasant voice that is definitely suited to this type of story.
Would I listen to this Author again? Probably yes but not for a little while.
I know this is probably a weird sort of review but it's not an easy story to describe, perhaps once you have listened to it you will get what I mean.
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- michele taylor
- 27-03-2024
Gentle musings with a Gimlet eye
A reflective gentle read, with pitch perfect narration. The author skilfully weaves a string of childhood memories into a series of biting & cruel reveals. Beautiful writing.
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- Anonymous User
- 05-04-2024
Beautiful journey
I just loved this book. So different from the Authors previous books which I also enjoyed.
Don’t expect an uplifting’ experience. It is deeply personal and moving, A Quiet, meandering, introspective. Reflecting on childhood memories and characters. A lot about grief - resolved and unresolved conflicts. A giving up and a giving in…
A woman’s unraveling of sorts
I loved the imagery and colour the narrator provides. So deeply moving and heartfelt.
Highly recommended.
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- Anonymous User
- 27-10-2023
An instant Australian classic
Loved this book, which feels like a gift, and the performance from Ailsa Piper is just perfect. For those in need of space and solace.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Mary Comino
- 29-01-2024
beautifully written
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It made mw wish the author was my friend. I found it to be an intimate narrative, gripping but subtle.
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- Helen Diack
- 20-12-2023
Deeply satisfying and satisfyingly deep
I was taken to a quiet reflective space as I listened to this bare and starkly spacious novel. It is written in the first person and tells of a group of people living a pared back simple life of religious order in the course of which courage, forbearance, love and forgiveness emerge in response to human frailty and natural disaster.
It is both a gripping story and a message of understanding and kindness.
Thank you Charlotte Wood,
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1 person found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 12-10-2023
Moving
Recognising many events that occurred in this book … the hippies, the charismatic religious gatherings at homes, the bowl of rice we ate to raise money etc leaves a moving, melancholy feeling. A beautiful story Charlotte. Thank you.
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- Meralyn Tarte
- 05-03-2024
Melancholy and meditative story.
Fact or fiction? I sensed this was an autobiography, too much detail for it not to be. I wish I had the capacity to analyse my life’s important and formative experiences with such depth and articulate feeling. Most of us bury deep inside the complex painful moments of our early years which ultimately make us what we are. This book will stay with me for a long time.
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- Denise Heydon
- 23-12-2023
stone boring
I preserved as long as I could but could not finish it, it had nothing of interest
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