Shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2024

Book blurb

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 plains of rural Australia.

But disquiet soon interrupts this secluded life. First, the skeletal remains of a sister who disappeared decades before are returned to the monastery, resurfacing years of grief and pain. And then, an unexpected and troubling visitor plunges the narrator further into her past…

My thoughts

I really enjoyed this book it peaked my interest because of the mystery it promised regarding the remains of the nun. I didn’t expect that to be the main theme, it’s not a whodunnit, nor was it but that along with what brought the main character to return home, seek peace in a retreat and the visit from someone that brings back memories of the past for her was very compelling.

Her parents died close to each other and so there were two funerals. She saw her doctor rather than be referred to a grief counsellor. She didn’t want that sort of thing. What she got was for her it seems the honesty she needed.

Her interactions with the nuns and the rhythm of the house are soothing. Memories of the past come to her, she sees a man, Richard Gittens, who visits the house she’s sure they went to the same school. She continues to return ultimately after four years she remains.

I was aware that there are scenes regarding plagues of mice drawn to the region because of the weather and crops. They are a little disturbing but perhaps because I had read about it not as bad for me. Indeed these plagues are real occurrences in parts of Australia where the story is set so not a stretch to include in the book and gives a sense of reality even though the book has at times a surreal feel to it.

This book draws you in gently with rhythm, interest and a desire to find out what happened to the nun, to the visitor and to the main character.

Book: Purchased

#20BOS26

I know, I know! Not on my original list but as I was looking for a book this jumped out at me and so I decided to read it.

As you will know if you read any #20BOS posts on my blog this is such a relaxed book challenge that changing your books is perfectly acceptable and as I’m, obviously, a bit flighty about sticking to a list it’s a wonderful challenge for me.

You can read all about the #20BOS challenge on Annabel’s blog at AnnaBookBel. Annabel has taken sole charge of this challenge in 2026 having been co-host with Emma Words and Peace in 2025 after taking over the challenge from Cathy @ 746books.

Information

Published: Sceptre (Hodder & Stoughton) | 7 March 2024 | 320 pp | ISBN-13: 9781399724388

Sceptre is the literary imprint of Hodder & Stoughton

Buy: Allen & Unwin (Australia)| Amazon | Bookshop.org | Hive |Your local bookshop | Your local library

Author: Charlotte Wood is the author of seven novels and three books of non-fiction. Her novel Stone Yard Devotional was shortlisted for the 2024 Booker Prize and was selected by the New York Times as one of their 10 best books of 2025. Earlier novels include The Natural Way of Things, which won the 2016 Stella Prize and was joint winner of the Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Fiction, and The Weekend, which was an international bestseller. Her features and essays have appeared in the New York Times, Guardian, Literary Hub and Sydney Morning Herald, among others. Charlotte lives in Sydney with her husband.

Author’s Website | Facebook | Instagram

Books

The Luminous Solution: Creativity, Resilience & the Inner-Life | The Weekend | The Writer’s Room: Conversations About Writing | The Natural Way of Things | Love & Hunger: Thoughts on the Gift of Food | Animal People | Brothers & Sisters (Anthology: Contributor & Ed. Charlotte Wood) | The Children | The Submerged Cathedral | Pieces of a Girl (out of print)

Other

Nanoparticles: Allen & Unwin shorts | Heather: A Ghost Story