In 'Stone Yard Devotional,' a woman abandons modern life for a religious community

This NPR podcast episode interviews author Charlotte Wood about her novel, *Stone Yard Devotional*, which depicts a narrator's decision to leave her life and join a religious community. The discussion centers on the author's deliberate choice to avoid judging her character's actions, exploring the ethical complexities of the narrator's choices and the contrasting perspectives of engagement versus withdrawal from the world. Wood uses the real-life example of a devastating mouse plague in Australia to illustrate the unpredictable and overwhelming nature of climate change-related events within the novel's narrative. The interview also introduces a secondary character, a politically active nun, who represents a contrasting lifestyle to the narrator's chosen seclusion. Ultimately, the conversation highlights the author's personal struggle with balancing engagement in worldly affairs with the desire for retreat.