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15.99

THE NEW NOVEL BY THE AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR OF THE WEEKEND, NOW SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2024

A Guardian Book of the Summer 2024
A book of the year for the Sydney Morning Herald and ABC

Shortlisted for the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award
Shortlisted for The Age Book of the Year
Shortlisted for the ABIA Award for Literary Fiction
Longlisted for the Miles Franklin Award

‘A beautiful, mature work that does not flinch from life’
SUNDAY TIMES

‘A book about what it means to be good: simply and with great humility, it asks the big questions, leaving the reader feeling kinder, more brave, enlarged’
ANNE ENRIGHT, author of The Wren, The Wren

‘I have rarely been so absorbed by a novel . . . A powerful, generous book’
GUARDIAN

‘Beautiful, strange and otherworldly’
PAULA HAWKINS, bestselling author of A Slow Fire Burning

‘It extends and deepens Wood’s already remarkable achievements as a novelist in powerful and often profound ways’
SATURDAY PAPER

‘Both profound and addictively entertaining. I loved it’
CLARE CHAMBERS, bestselling author of Small Pleasures

‘Extraordinary . . . a stunning work of fiction from a major writer who keeps getting better’
AUSTRALIAN

‘Remarkable . . . I’m still trying to figure out how she pulled it off. The best thing she’s done’
TIM WINTON, author of The Shepherd’s Hut

‘No words can quite convey how much I loved this book’
KAREN JOY FOWLER, author of Booth

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 the Australian outback. She doesn’t believe in God, or know what prayer is, and finds herself living this strange, reclusive existence almost by accident.

But 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 disappeared decades before, presumed murdered. And finally, a troubling visitor plunges the narrator further back into her past.

PRAISE FOR CHARLOTTE WOOD’S THE WEEKEND

A Sunday Times ‘Best Book for Summer 2021’
A Times, Observer, Independent, Daily Express and Good Housekeeping Book of the Year

‘So great I am struggling to find the words to do it justice . . . Wood is an agonisingly gifted writer. I am now going to read all her other books’
MARIAN KEYES

‘A rare pleasure’
SUNDAY TIMES

‘A perfect, funny, insightful novel about women, friendship and ageing’
NINA STIBBE

‘Glorious . . . Charlotte Wood joins the ranks of writers such as Nora Ephron, Penelope Lively and Elizabeth Strout’
GUARDIAN

‘Riveting’
ELIZABETH DAY

‘Triumphantly brings to life the honest inner lives of women’
INDEPENDENT

‘A lovely, lively, intelligent, funny book’
TESSA HADLEY

ISBN: 9781399724357

Out of stock

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.

Additional information

Weight0.389 kg
Dimensions23.2 × 15.2 × 2.8 cm
Author

Publisher

Imprint

Cover

Paperback

Pages

320

Language

English

Edition

Export ed

Dewey

823.92 (edition:23)

Readership

General – Trade / Code: K

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