Art is a place to turn to in times of trouble

On experimenting in her latest novel with how far she could go in crafting a story that depends on stillness and yet shimmers with energetic force

- Simar Bhasin

How did the idea for Stone Yard Devotional take shape? Stone Yard Devotional grew from elements of my own life and childhood merging with an entirely invented story about an enclosed religious community. Writing it during pandemic lockdowns, followed by a period of time out owing to a serious illness, gave me an urgent instinct to shed anything inessential in my work. I wanted nothing insincere in this book. And I wanted to try to master what Saul Bellow called "stillness in the midst of chaos", risking a tonal restraint and depth that at the same time, I hope, pulses with energy. I see now it explores some recurrent preoccupations of mine, particularly friendships and rivalries between women, and the question of how to live with others despite prickly relations. It also touches on forgiveness and atonement, on the moral challeng