As I read the last pages of this book, I was overwhelmed with emotion. A sad recognition of what we humans have wrecked upon the earth, combined with a wistful hope that nature is never fully spent, never fully depleted, always ready to grab a chance at rebirth.

I had experienced the history of a place under the hands of people who loved it, a deep woods seemingly separated from the world, yet bearing the scars of civilization and environmental degradation.

It had been a haven for a couple who fled an oppressive society and the Indian captive who later sheltered there, leading to a murder which allowed an apple seed to take root. There was the man who discovers the apple tree and the apple’s miraculous experience of taste; he buys the land and propagates Osgood’s Wonder. Then, his twin daughters inherited the land and cared for it until jealousy brought more death. The woods take over, the catamount inhabiting the house, before it is discovered and claimed once again.

Generations of people come and go. One man, considered a schizophrenic, sees the ghosts of the people who came before. An amateur historian seeks evidence of a colonial murder, a young woman comes to study the flora.

Invasive species arrive and disease that claims the chestnut and beetles decimate the ash. The climate alters and Southern trees arrive, and then fire.

“Then it begins again.”

With inventive chapters that include narratives, ballads, documents and letters, following the generations who come to these woods, the story of a place is revealed as also our communal story. The runaway lovers could be our Adam and Eve, the twin sisters our Cain and Abel. We are the lovers of the land, the destroyers and murderers.

The stone house becomes a Federal home becomes a wreck becomes an improved, modern mansion, falls to neglect, becomes a commune, becomes a hunting cabin. The woods are replaced by an apple orchard and pastureland, grows wild again, is destroyed, and will be reborn.

I love this book. I loved the inventive storytelling, the passage through history, the way it broke my heart and gave me hope.

Thanks to the publisher for a free book.

Sometimes a book touches your interior core, rearranges it, and leaves you changed. This was such a book.
The poetry of the language, the immersion into nature, the generations of gritty stories about people living in the same New England house, the juxtaposition of nature and humans, mental illness and mental health, and present and past, all helped create an awe-inspiring tale that mirrors the history of America. We meet so many memorable characters and then meet them again through gossip, students' papers, spoken stories, and even ghosts. Nature is a star, and she, too, undergoes alterations, challenges, hard times, and renewals. I highly recommend this book which still lives within me.

I have enjoyed Daniel Mason’s work before (particularly The Winter Soldier), but in North Woods, the author takes his great literary skills to a wonderful, new, and very creative, level. On the surface this is a novel of a place and the people who inhabited the place over several centuries. The place is located in western Massachusetts and consists of a house (which undergoes many renovations and changes), an apple orchard and deep, beautiful woods. The inhabitants of the place include young lovers escaping their prohibited relationship (at the time of the early European settlers to the area); a soldier (French-Indian wars) seeking peace and an escape from a diagnosis of madness, who plants the apple orchard; the twin daughters of the soldier/orchardist whose sibling love suffocates their lives (or at least the life of one of them); a married artist struggling with his homosexuality; the caretaker of the artist; the wife of the next owner of the place, who seeks a medium to rid her of her visions/madness; their grandson, who suffers from schizophrenia; and several present-day characters. These characters are beautifully created in prose written in the different styles of the times in which the respective characters lived.
Nature is itself a character in the novel, and there are tangible descriptions of the natural world and of the animals who also inhabit the location. There are tangible descriptions of insects, birds and trees – and each plays its own role in the habitation of the location. The ongoing presence of the mountain lion and the poetry related to the lion are outstandingly presented.
Woven throughout the novel is the issue of mental health – or “madness”. The reader watches as, throughout the years and (some!) community changes in attitude, many of the characters grapple with their mental health/emotional issues and needs. Mason is a professor of clinical psychology. His ability to turn his medical knowledge into the incredible artwork that is this novel is amazing.
Without giving away the incredible ending, I will just say that this novel presents the full circle of the history of a place and its inhabitants, human and animal/insect. If you want a beautiful, complex, highly creative and well-written novel, I recommend this one.

4.5, rounded up. This was an immensely pleasurable reading experience, and highly recommended (unfortunately, it's not scheduled for publication in the US until September).

Mason's previous books (most recently, his novel The Winter Soldier and short-story collection A Registry of My Passage upon the Earth) have been intimate chamber pieces. In North Woods, he's working on a grander, symphonic scale, with a hugely ambitious goal: the story of a house deep in the woods of Western Massachusetts over 400 tumultuous years of history, accumulating a series of violent revenge tragedies.

Generations of bodies pile up into a layered mass grave: two young lovers elope from a Puritan colony into the forest, an English veteran of the Revolutionary War plants an apple orchard, two spinster sisters keep suitors at bay, a repressed married gay novelist pines for an equally repressed painter. Their ghosts haunt the house in a more than metaphorical way, and the living are locked into a tight embrace with the dead. Natural cycles mesh with the rise and fall of the families of those who think they own this spot of land, and historical cycles of boom and bust.

North Woods is a richly polyvocal novel: Mason alternates numbered chapters in third-person omniscient narration with chapters in an intriguingly diverse range of textual genres, including popular ballads, letter exchanges, lyric poems, diary entries, real-estate listings, and noirish pulp. Even an elm-borer beetle is the protagonist of one chapter, and a catamount sporadically stalks the grounds. And the woods themselves are a deeply-drawn character, teeming with life and bursting with four seasons of color.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Random House for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

I approached this book with genuine dedication, but to put it simply, it left me perplexed. From the very beginning, the novel ventured into peculiar territory. Essentially, the book compromises of different stories told across various points in time that are centered around a house in the "North Woods".

I struggled to articulate what exactly transpired in that initial chapter. The writing style was excessively ornate, resembling a stream of consciousness. However, after the first chapter, I noticed an improvement, or at least a shift that made the writing more accessible to my personal taste. Undoubtedly, there will be readers who adore this style of writing. I can envision Mason's prose receiving great acclaim within certain literary circles. For me, though, the author's writing reminded me too much of mandatory school reading. I found myself transported back to a classroom, engaged in discussions about the chapters. By the fourth chapter, it became apparent that I was not the intended audience for this book.

I yearned for a stronger narrative thread to weave through the different chapters and stories, beyond the recurring motifs of the house and the apples. The majority of chapters felt disconnected from one another, almost as if they were penned by different authors. Nevertheless, this disjointedness highlights the author's talent for employing diverse styles, allowing each chapter to possess a distinct identity.

In conclusion, this book failed to resonate with me personally, but I can envision other readers thoroughly enjoying this novel. I extend my gratitude to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for providing me with this advanced copy.

Overall rating: ⭐️⭐️
Enjoyment: ⭐️
Plot: ⭐️⭐️
Characters: ⭐️
Thought Provoking: ⭐️⭐️
Ease of Reading: ⭐️.✨
World Building: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Writing: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.✨

DNF: Stopped reading at 176 out of 287 pages. Although my ARC copy from NetGalley was listed as 287 pages, the page length differed from what was indicated on Story Graph/Goodreads, despite having the same ISBN number.

The story of a house in the woods and its many inhabitants over the years.
Beautifully written and ephemeral it is almost dreamlike in its content.

North Woods is billed as the story of a house through the ages, and Daniel Mason tells this tale through interconnected stories about each of its inhabitants. It begins when a pair of young lovers run away from a Puritan colony and build the cabin, and over time it is inhabited by a soldier, an orchardist, a crime reporter, a painter, and several others. One of the drawbacks of this approach is that just about the time I was getting immersed in one chapter, it seemed to be over and a new one started, but that is no different from reading a collection of short stories. I found some stories to be more interesting than others, but this is also true of short stories. The language is beautiful, rich, and distinctive, but it is also dense and heavy, at times bordering on impenetrable. The story isn't propelled forward by continuing characters nor is it plot-driven, but the imagery is superb. What I enjoyed most is how history and the legacy of the inhabitants of the house were conveyed.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book. This book will be published on September 19, 2023.

When reading this novel you learn of things in the woods that will be helpful in your life. The things that grow in the woods, the animals that live there and how the people survive and live there. The man that lives in the woods was a painter. So having nature so close by to have many of natures wonders to paint.

Thanks you to NetGalley and the publisher for granting me a copy of this book in return for my honest opinions.

Cute book. Quick read. Not a book I would pick up on my own

Fot stars Recommend

North Woods is described as "A sweeping novel about a single house in the woods of New England, told through the lives of those who inhabit it across the centuries," and that is indeed the case. The stories and imagery are vivid, I felt as though I were there smelling the scents and viewing the scene, partaking in the story and location.

Historically, New England has been home to many talented authors: Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Mark Twain, Louisa May Alcott, Robert Frost. As a New Englander, I loved how North Woods stories evolved, echoing the styles reminiscent of New England writers through time. Several stories reminded me of Thoreau's love of nature and the Concord woods.

Highly recommended to fans of New England writers or those who enjoy novels with a focus on nature.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for providing an advance copy to review.

Author Daniel Mason had a real inspiration while writing NORTH WOODS, namely to follow a single structure through time and its varied inhabitants’ experiences while living there. The idea itself is wonderful and Mason is an excellent writer. His ability to bring characters to life and animate his settings and eras is exceptional. There were chapters in the book that made my own setting disappear and his descriptions feel more real than my own. Unfortunately, not all of his chapters are equally compelling and some really drag the book down. There were times I wished to skip ahead and just move on. But, all in all, this is a genius of a book and well worth reading. I received my copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

North Woods by Daniel Mason tells the story of a house in western Massachusetts from the very beginning built by 2 fleeing lovers to the ending of the house. It reads like short stories. The writing is poetic. Complex and wordy at times but very descriptive. I have not read this author before and still digesting parts of the story. Thank you to NetGallery and the publisher for letting me read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Covering a time span of over 400 years this is the tale of a New England home, the people who lived there, the centuries of history as well as the changes in nature: the land, the plants and the wildlife.

In the beginning young lovers set up house after running from their Puritan Colony, followed by a former British commander who, tired of fighting, yearns for his own apple orchard in the New World, next the spinster twins - neither of whom can allow the other to do or be anything that she is not, followed by a news reporter fixated on locating a grave from years ago, then a famous painter with his even more famous author friend, and on it goes. Each story is as fascinating as the one before it. We quickly see our connections to one another, the environment, the animals and even the insects.

A unique tale that fills the senses. In Mason’s capable hands the reader can not only taste the apples and smell the bog but fill the nip in the air as well. Beautiful writing brings the woods, the plants, the animals, the land, and the house, as well as this time frame in the history of the world come to life. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This quote (from a modern day section of the book) made me chuckle: they followed a "long driveway flanked by those twin heralds of American hospitality, PRIVATE PROPERTY and BEWARE OF DOG”. Looking forward to seeing my friends comments on #NorthWoods, I expect it'll be very well received. Publication Date: September 2023. Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Random House and Daniel Mason for a free, advanced copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

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After reading North Woods by Daniel Mason, you will never look at the world around you in quite the same way. This book spans several generations of people and nature that share the same parcel of land in western Massachusetts. Daniel Mason weaves stories of both the lives and deaths of the land’s inhabitants. Nature and humans are interdependent of each other for survival. As each new generation lives in the house, we become aware of past mysteries as well as different historical periods. I highly recommend this book to people who enjoy historical fiction and the nature of both the land and its people. Daniel Mason describes the land, its plants, trees, and insects in vivid and beautiful detail. His characters come alive on the page as they struggle to survive on the land. Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for providing this digital copy.

Daniel Mason has a splendid ability to express in great detail the beauty of the flora and founa found in the physical area of his selected local for this book. . Having been a resident, previously, of the area where this book takes place, I found the defining expressions of the beauty to be seen most enjoyable. The creation of the generational characters which lead us through this natural beauty takes us on an interesting journey. Let the characters, each, entertain you with their tales of the yellow house.


I have received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed are completely my own.



Spencer Birt

North Woods by Pulitzer Prize finalist author Daniel Mason is a beautiful, uncommon book about a house and surrounding woods of New England. Rather than a primary main character, the novel revolves around the residents of the eponymous home spanning centuries. Told in a unique structure, the novel is organized by different periods of time beginning with a Puritan couple who escape their colony to build a cabin in the woods. This first couple - apropos of Adam and Eve - are followed by succession of inhabitants including a family who establish a bountiful apple orchard.

Along with evocative description of the New England woods, the story abounds with themes of life, death, nature’s evolving seasons, decay and regeneration. All of this is written in both prose and poetry synchronistic to the period of time of the inhabitants along with swaths of magical realism. The story raises many questions for me but I believe one of his main themes is that the lives of North Wood residents are fleeting but what remains constant are the earth and woods.

Beautiful and thought-provoking, I anticipate the novel will receive critical acclaim but not necessarily accessible to the commercial reader. Thank you to NetGallery and publisher for an advanced copy of the book.

I went into Daniel Mason's North Woods without many expectations. Told over centuries, this is the saga of a home, rather than a people. The location is fixed (a cabin in the eponymous North Woods); it's the characters who change.

I would hesitate to say much more than that, as I really think the best way to read this with fresh eyes. What unfolds within the pages is nothing less than spectacular. It's a massive undertaking, handled deftly, told in a linear fashion but exploring often only vaguely connected storylines. It made me want to catch up on the author's back catalog immediately.

I only hesitate to give this one five stars as I did find some of the chapters a little uneven. On the whole, it's a 4.5 star read, but section by section I would give it 4 stars overall. Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC.

I have read Daniel Mason’s three previous novels, and enjoyed and admired them. I was looking forward to this new novel, totally unaware of what he had up his sleeve. This is an unusual book a daring and risk-taking work. I hardly know where to begin. First there is the structure of the book. It takes place in western Massachusetts and focuses on a house, its land, and its inhabitants, stretching from Puritan times to the present. Covering such a broad canvas, necessitates the novel to be more a work of interconnected stories. And what an exciting storyteller Mason is!

Working within these boundaries Mason makes use of several different, and often surprising, narrative techniques to move the book forward. For example, who would expect a ballad? Or adding some magic realism to the mix? This could have been a disaster in the hands of a less talented author. I found it daring and risky. No doubt Mason’s skillful prose is a huge factor in making it work. The tone is haunting, the writing lush, descriptive and beautiful. It is stunning in its effect.

As a novel whose framework is built on a house and piece of land, Mason is spot-on his depiction of setting. I live in Boston but I have made enough trips to the western part of the state to know he has brought a clear vision of the cold and barren winters and the lush and green summers. In fact, I think Mason has done an exemplary job at creating a vivid setting for all readers. As the years pass, and as the house and landscapes changes, Mason addresses the loss of forestland whether by man or the many serious blights that have taken so many trees. It is obviously an important issue to the author,

I hope that North Woods finds many readers. It is truly something different, something very special. I look forward to seeing how it is received when it is finally released. Regardless the verdict, I will continue to read whatever Mason has in store in the future.

Many thanks to Random House and Netgalley for an advanced copy of this novel. (less)

This reads like a classic novel and I don’t know that I’ve read many “classics “. I don’t think I’m wrong in saying that this book will eventually be a classic. It’s unlike anything I’ve read before.

With so many time periods and narrators, I was afraid it would be confusing, but that wasn’t exactly the case. There were a few times I had to stop and think back to previous chapters, but it didn’t take long to recall. Even though I wasn’t 100% happy with the ending, there’s no way I would give this less that 5 stars.

I don’t know that I couldn’t discuss this with anyone without giving spoilers, but I want to talk to everyone about it! So much of it is hard to explain if you haven’t read it. There’s are several times throughout where the “narrator” is an animal or inanimate object, but you wouldn’t realize it if you didn’t know that.

People will study this book. I don’t know when, but they will.

Thank you for the advance reading copy!
This book was incredible. Going into it I thought "I'm going to love this or hate it, no in-between" and I absolutely loved it. First of all, I was blown away by the writing. The story feels like interconnected stories as you move through time and each different time period utilizes a style of writing (and even what the writing is-a song, letters, diary, etc) that is appropriate to that time. The scope of this undertaking alone was impressive and effective. The story itself drew me right in--I read this quickly because I couldn't wait to find out what happened next and see how things were connected. I happen to like stories where something has happened in the past and at a later point in the timeline there is a reference to something that you know is meant to be what you had read about earlier. Well, this entire book was like that since you begin with the piece of land in Puritan times and move forward literally centuries.
I also really liked the role of Nature in this. Not just the catamount's occasional appearance, but the trees of those north woods themselves. (And since we're currently experiencing an absolute wipeout of all ash trees currently, the cycles of tree species die outs was very interesting to me!)
I found myself thinking about this book A LOT as I read it, and even more so when I finished it. Thinking about our role in the world, and the scale of time.