I really enjoyed this book by Mason, my first of this authors. I have always been fascinated with the lives lived in homes, and this is exactly what this story is about. A home, the land that surrounds it and its inhabitants through the centuries. Behind the walls of this home there is so much love, dissension, trauma, words spoken and unspoken. Interspersed throughout are short stories and poetry. I liked how this all came together .
Thanks for Random House and NetGalley for an early arc.

Have you ever wondered about the history of the home you live in? The woods you walk in? North Woods has taken on that theme through a series of interconnected stories. Not only do we walk through the woods with each inhabitant, each inhabitant walks through the woods with some of the past inhabitants. The story of the cabin begins when the Massachusetts colony forms and the reader follows the history as the cabin is built into a house, becomes a family home, an famous apple orchard, falls multiple times into disrepair, is a murder scene (a few times) and always haunted (literally) with its past.

While the first story had me wondering if I would get into the novel (it was a bit slow), I really enjoyed this one – the concept, most of the stories and the fact that the characters (even after they died) kept returning. This wasn’t a book of short stories per se because the main character was always present – it was the house, but it had the element that I love about short stories – the interconnectedness. This was well written and engaging.

4.25 stars

Thank you NetGalley and Random House for the Arc to review

Whose woods these are we may think we know, but we are very likely wrong, as Daniel Mason's lovely, prismatically-shifting novel reminds us time and time again. Opening with a jubilant burst of pastoral energy, Mason lays the geographical groundwork and framing of wooded landscape and house that will serve as the book's setting from the get-go. And then proceeds to meander, complicate, deepen, and invert/subvert/all the -verts our narrative expectations. The idea of a novel structured around a single place is not, of course, new or unique--Pitchaya Sudbanthad's Bangkok Wakes to Rain, for instance, brilliantly traces the life-history of a single house in Krungthep or Bangkok, from its origins in the 19th century to a vision of the future that feels all-too-palpably plausible given the news. Like Mason's, Sudbanthad's range is not confined to the temporal plane; each novel explores a range of characters and perspectives, and Sudbanthad even goes beyond the human in various places, convincingly making a case that we need to think beyond the human if we have any hope of understanding our condition, much less remedying it. Where North Woods feels different is in its continual reinvention of its style and genre, a changeability which creates a narrative pastiche. Maybe, to draw from one of the book's own motifs, succession is a more apt metaphor. Through the tall tale, letters, songs, and various points of view, the composition of the narrative is always changing, yet one feels the presence of those species that were formerly dominant, as though they are inhabiting the soil and air, in some cases as memories and in some as ghostly presences.

The challenge borne by a book like this is that of hooking readers into each of the stories/songs/tales, or if not all of them enough so that we don't find ourselves distracted in our wistfulness for previous chapters, characters, and storylines. Books like Cloud Atlas and The Overstory manage this challenge by bringing back previous threads just when they seem to have been jettisoned forever, and the latter case, which Mason's book resembles at times, amasses its disparate branches and tendrils into a single narrative canopy. Mason's remains disparate, yet there are enough thematic connections between characters, time periods, and sections that we are never fully lost in his woods--more like happily wandering. With songs, no less! Moreover, enough of the individual stories are riveting unto themselves, and they drew me as a reader in so fully that I didn't mind moving on. Among the most memorable is the figure of the "Apple-man" who fills pages with the rich, fecund pursuit of "pomomania," an apple obsession and cult of cultivation whose likes I've only encountered in the pages of Matt Bell's Appleseed: "And I came to realize that the country was overflowing: scraggly crab trees grown up from cores tossed off in roadside culverts, ranks of stately Newtown Pippins, unnamed heirlooms growing in solitude in a settler's yard....it was as if one might subtract all matter but the apple tree and still see, in what remained, the contours of the world." Mason's love of language, evident throughout the novel, shows through in wordplay here: "mull" and "appellation" are used in one sentence, for instance. The character, Osgood's, twin daughter's, Mary and Alice, also feature in a story that is by turns mesmerizing and harrowing; here, Mason deploys the free-wheeling point of view he's availed himself of with aplomb and to great, and chilling, effect.

Unlike some other novels that abide by such a networked structure, North Woods never makes it to the present or the future, yet the concerns of our time, unsurprisingly, loom over all. We see the preoccupation with the fraught relationship between natural and human time and again, and the ways that the human attempt to control nature is often futile, and just as often a ruse or excuse for the ways humans elect to subjugate other humans. We see the seeds of climate change, and it's impossible for me personally to read this New England novel without thinking of the way Vermont, thought to be a relative sanctuary from the front lines, faced devastating flooding earlier this year. In this context, the character of Robert is all the more fascinating; deemed mentally ill for his quixotic insistence that walking the land is an attempt to heal it (one can easily imagine a would-be latter-day transcendentalist taking this on as a GoFundMe), he calls our attention to the societal illnesses, mental and otherwise, that we inflict on the landscape. By its end, it is not entirely clear whether Mason's novel is an elegy for the anthropocene, a wake-up call, or a consolation; most likely it is all of these. For why should such a versatile book, as patient in its tending to a single plot of land as it is restless in its plotting, limit itself to one?

Thanks to NetGalley for an epub ARC of this book.

I love books where places feel like a character, so this book is right up my alley. I've been slowly, over years been reading a book (or books) about all 50 states. This one definitely fits the bill as it is a story about the land itself and the people, and things, through the centuries who inhabit it. It is a hard book to describe but essentially it is a ghost story, a murder mystery, and a beautiful piece of writing.

Four powerful themes weave together this novel set in the woods of Western Massachusetts: a single house and its myriad occupants across centuries, the ghosts of the inhabitants who linger in the house and can be perceived by some of the house’s occupants, a deep dive into the natural world and ever-changing woods that surround the house, and lastly the sweep of historical events as impacting the house’s owners.

The yellow house first gets constructed as small cabin, built by lovers who have run away from their Puritan colony. Next comes an English soldier and his spinster daughters who devotedly tend an apple orchard producing an extraordinarily delicious apple. What follows is a diverse cast of characters and lots of mayhem and murder: from people killed by the early settlers to a true crime reporter finding their mass grave, a gay naturalist painter who longs for his forbidden love, a Caribbean nurse, a killing panther, a famous actor, a deranged son who can see all the ghosts, and so on. Each of 12 stories get told connected to months of the year, and seasons of the woods.

Throughout out everything’s bursting with life: the bounty of nature, the string of people who live in the house, and even the ghosts themselves. And everything’s ultimately, deeply bound together across space and time.

Sumptuous pose dives deep into the natural world and humans’ fleeting place within it.

Thanks to Random House and NetGalley for an advanced reader’s copy.

I loved the premise of this novel: stories about the inhabitants of one piece of property over the decades. However, I found much of the book to be weird. While some of the characters had compelling histories, others included murderers, an obsessed apple grower, twin spinster sisters, a schizophrenic, an adulterer, a psychic, gay lovers, ghosts, prisoners, and a hungry catamount (a mix between a mountain lion and a bobcat.)

I will probably be an outlier on this one. The professional reviewers are loving it. The flowery writing and occasional poetry just weren't my cup of tea.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this unique novel.

I was drawn to read this novel based on its unique, compelling, and bold concept. The main emphasis is not on characters, or time, or anything that typically defines the existence of people, flora, insects or fauna, but rather on a specific piece of land. It is through the land that we learn of all the things that inhabit it over the course of 400+ years.

Daniel Mason's beautifully descriptive and flowing writing tells us of this place in the Massachusetts woods, who has lived there, the events that happened to them and the land they inhabited for a while. Their stories are interesting, some more than others, but what strikes the reader between the eyes, is the transient nature of ALL those who lived there. Their lives, their dreams, their very existence had but a fleeting impact on the land they inhabited, the land they considered theirs.

This novel beautifully shows the connection between people, eras, and the environment around them through the lens of the land and time. While not every individual story touched me, the overall work is a masterpiece that may in time become the classic it deserves to be. One of the best books I've read, I highly recommend you not miss it.

My thanks to Random House Publishing for allowing me to read a DRC via NetGalley. The book is scheduled for publication on 9/19/23. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and are freely given.

North Woods
By Daniel Mason

This is a very interesting story. It is about a plot of land in western Massachusetts and how, over time, the various owners occupy it. The first occupants are a pair of star-crossed lovers , runaways to their "acadia".

The second is a British soldier and widower, pre-revolutionary war, who searches for a specific piece of land on which to grow an orchard of apples of a very specific type. He finally finds this parcel and brings his young twin daughters to live here. When the revolutionary war begins, he leaves the land and goes off to fight on behalf of the king and returns only to be buried there.

The twins, Mary and Alice, are identical physically but not in other ways. They live together for many years, Alice longing for a suitor and Mary doing all she can to thwart the plan.

The next segment deals with a runaway slave and the slave hunter who tracks her and her baby to this abandoned house. After that comes the painter and his family and so on and so on.

Each of these segments is interesting, providing the reader with much information about life in this area over different periods of time. The book as a whole is one I would recommend to anyone interested in early American history.

Wow, I want to start with how beautiful the writing was in this book. I could picture things so clearly and feel what the characters were feeling. Next, the execution of this book is so unique. Instead of following a person or a family we are following a house and its surroundings. For centuries. This was truly incredible.

A page turner. Well paced and thoughtful.
Many thanks to Random House and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

The North Woods by Daniel Mason is an all-encompassing story about a house in the "north woods" of Western Massachusetts, and all of its inhabitants throughout the centuries.

The descriptive language, the characters, and the ways in which the author would hint at the period of time are all key elements of the story that I enjoyed! I was able to visualize each description of the scenery, every animal in the woods, and heard each sound described.

All characters were all three-dimensional, and I especially enjoyed how the author focused on particular characters in the story, while briefly introducing others. Separation and determination of time period throughout the book were important since the book covered so much ground. Interludes and ballads were used sporadically to determine change in time period, which I had never seen before in a book.

I will definitely be recommending North Woods by Daniel Mason to fellow readers!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an advanced e-copy of North Woods by Daniel Mason.

Over centuries and generations, the stories of those who inhabit a single house in rural New England. Beginning with a young couple in love running from a Puritan colony, building a small one room cottage from stone. Then a retired (French & Indian War) British officer and widower purchases the land, adds to the house, and moves his twin daughters there to build an apple orchard. Each successive owner/resident has a story that is told. Part ghost story and part haunted house story, Mason writes in varying styles and uses varying writing devices, yet the book is not disjointed - it just works.

A beautifully written novel about a house and those that live and love inside.

Each of the 12 stories have elements of nature, each of the 12 stories contain glorious prose. Daniel Mason is clearly a rare talent and this book HAS to be on many of the best of lists for 2023.

I want to be in that house. I want to live in that world. I want read more Daniel Mason.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review.

North Woods is a sweeping, multigenerational story about a forest in New York state that lends its footprint to a home. That home will expand and house a myriad who occupy it both happily and in torment, corporally and as specters.

A young couple fleeing the strictures of Puritan life will first settle the land. Their cabin is later occupied by two women who survive different Indigenous raiding parties through the mercy of one warrior. Men will later come upon them, one offers an apple with ill intent, and from that moment a chain of destinies are set beginning with Major Charles Osgood. A dream compels him to abandon the martial life after a close call in battle to become an apple grower. His quest is for the perfect apple, a sublime one. He finds it on this remote tract of land where the apple seed, buried through tragedy, has become a tree. Osgood will expand the cabin into a home that will serve as the setting for future generations.

This story is a testament to nature and the smallest of her creatures, a love story to the earth and a reprimand to the ravages of humankind.

This novel will be released on September 19, 2023.

Many thanks to Random House and NetGalley for providing this eARC.

North Woods by Daniel Mason is a highly recommended imaginative historical fiction, but with a different point of reference.

This is a novel about all the lives that lived in a single house in the woods of New England. The novel consists of twelve stories that tie into the seasons and months of the year, all set around the land and house, beginning with two young Puritan lovers who escaped from their colony. Residents also include in part, an English soldier who wants an apple orchard, twin sisters, a landscape painter, the wealthy Farnsworths, and subsequently their daughter and her schizophrenic son, Robert, and a true crime writer.

This is also the story of the land, animals, insects, spores, etc., and the changes experienced over the years. Finally, it is a ghost story, where the former inhabitants may still be haunting the area. Included within the narrative at different points are also folk ballads, letters, diary entries, real estate listing, and accounts of nature's changes, seeds, blights and insects coming to the land. Taken in totality, it all culminates in a tale of how all things in a specific environments are interconnected over time.

The quality of the writing is simply gorgeous and undeniably compelling. The writing will pull you in and keep you reading, however, as with any collection of interconnected stories, not all stories will be as compelling as others throughout the whole novel. The structure and decision to tell a story in this manner, over decades and through different characters on one piece of land, is interesting yet also challenging. I was not especially interested in all the characters and ghosts, however I kept reading for the little gems within the writing.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Random House via NetGalley.
The review will be published on Barnes & Noble, BookBrowse, X, Edelweiss, and Amazon.

This book was like nothing I was expecting.
It is well written but it just wasn’t to my liking.
Thanks to the publisher for the early copy

3.5 stars rounded down to 3.

I am a huge fan of multi-generational books, so I was excited to be able to read North Woods which gives the multi-generational plot line a bit of a twist where the house and surrounding property are the main characters in the story. Spanning from colonial times to modern day, Mason’s book covers the lives and deaths that occur on the property with brief glimpses into the lives of the inhabitants.

Although beautifully written with gorgeous descriptions of nature, ultimately I had a difficult time connecting the characters that lived in the house as our time with them was incredibly brief. I did, however love the surprise supernatural aspect that permeated throughout the story. I felt that the ghosts could have, ironically, been more fleshed out and their ability to interact with the living better explained. The interludes, as well, were interesting, yet felt disconnected from the overall story.

For anyone who loves literary fiction, nature writings, or wants to dip their toes into magical realism/supernatural elements, I would recommend this one. If you are looking for a multi-generational story closer to Roots or Homegoing that focuses more on family, I feel like this one will fall flat for you.

Thank you to NetGalley, Daniel Mason, and Random House for an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

Just finished reading 'North Woods' by Daniel Mason, and it's a unique gem in the literary world. At first, it took me a bit to get into the flow, but soon, I was captivated by its originality.

🌿 The main characters here aren't people, but rather a house and the ever-changing landscape that surrounds it. Mason's writing brings these elements to life in a way that makes them feel like living, breathing characters.

🌲 The real star of the show, though, is Mother Nature herself. Her presence looms large, and Mason's vivid descriptions capture her essence beautifully. The landscape becomes a character in its own right, constantly shifting and surprising.

🔄 Unexpected twists and turns kept me eagerly turning pages, and I found myself immersed in a world where nature and human emotions collide.

🌟 Overall, I'd rate 'North Woods' 4/5 stars. If you appreciate original storytelling and want to be transported into a world where the environment takes center stage, this one's for you. It's a reminder of the power and unpredictability of the natural world. Highly recommended

3.75. Rounding up as prose is incredible yet novel is just plain weird. The premise was interesting: american history as told through a house and it’s property, from settlement of the colonies to the present and even the future. I did like how the writing style changed with each narrator, often times writing in the language of the times. Some stories interesting, some so so. Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an advance copy in exchange for a candid and unbiased review.

I ended up really loving this book, but I had a hard time with some of the initial chapters. It is not an easy book but the pay off and ending is very worth sticking with it.

North Woods follows many of the inhabitants of a house in Massachusetts over several hundred years. Parts of it are dark, parts are sweet, and parts were somewhat confusing -- but all in all I really enjoyed the characters and descriptions of the house and the many changes it went through.

I felt very engaged in the second half of the book and was racing to find out how it would all come together. I really enjoyed some of the characters and could easily have read entire books about them. I also loved seeing the connections between the stories.

This was the first book I've read by Daniel Mason and I am definitely interested in checking out more. His writing is very engaging and lovely -- and I was very impressed by all the different writing styles he included within this book.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book!