Sceptre signs award-winning Wood’s new novel in exclusive submission

Sceptre has acquired award-winning Australian author Charlotte Wood’s next novel, Stone Yard Devotional.

Executive publisher Federico Andornino bought UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Australia, New Zealand and Canada, from Veronique Baxter at David Higham Associates, on behalf of Jenny Darling & Associates, in an exclusive submission.

In Australia and New Zealand the novel will be published by Jane Palfreyman at Allen & Unwin; German rights have also been sold to Kein & Aber. In his previous role at W&N, Andornino published Wood’s novel The Weekend.

Stone Yard Devotional, which will be published in export trade paperback, e-book and audio digital download on 3rd October 2023 and in hardback on 7th March 2024, is described as “a fearless exploration of forgiveness, grief and the complicated beauty of female friendship".

The synopsis reads: “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. As she gradually adjusts to the rhythms of her new life, she find herself turning again and again to thoughts of her mother, whose early death she can’t forget.

“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.”

Andornino said: “It’s a huge privilege to welcome Charlotte Wood to Sceptre and I feel truly delighted and humbled that she has decided to follow me on this new adventure. Stone Yard Devotional is Charlotte at her very best: fearless, surprising, whip-smart and devastatingly moving. I am in awe of her talent and generosity of spirit and I can’t wait for readers – old and new – to experience the extraordinary ride that is this new book.”

Wood is the author of seven novels and three books of non-fiction. Her novel The Natural Way of Things won the 2016 Stella Prize, the Indie Book of the Year and Novel of the Year Awards, and was joint winner of the Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Fiction. Her next novel, The Weekend, was shortlisted for the 2020 Stella Prize, the Prime Minister’s Literary Award and the Australian Literature Society Gold Medal. In 2019 she was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM).

Wood said: “I’m thrilled to be published by Sceptre, an imprint I have always admired, and touched by the faith Federico has shown in this book – by far my most personal novel yet. I can’t wait to see how UK readers respond to the secluded world of this story, and the moral questions and tensions its characters face.”