#37 Stone Yard Devotional, by Charlotte Wood
Booker Prize : Shortlisted 2024 Plot Time and Place : Present day Australia Opening sentence : "Arrive finally at about three." Plot summary : Burnt out and in need of retreat, a middle-aged woman leaves Sydney to return to the place where she grew up, taking refuge in a small religious community. She finds herself living a strange, reclusive existence almost by accident. (thebookerprizes.com) Review : This book is hard to define. It´s written in a diary form, by an unnamed narrator, but it's not boring or repetitive. There isn't much of a plot, but I liked the writing, the themes of grief and guilt, and all the car-crash voyeuristic Catholic saints' lives stuff. Rating : 4/5