What a creative book! It's essentially a fly-on-the-wall (or given the time line, more of a tree-in-the-forest) point of view of a house in Massachusetts. Full of mystery, memories, love, and loss. I never knew what to expect when a new chapter began.

I love stories about how a particular geographic location changes over time. North Woods, however, just did not do it for me. Additionally, the abstracts I read did not hint at the LGBTQ+ sexual content which is a complete negative for me. I would never have picked up the book had I known. North Woods joins the 0.01% of books I put down unfinished.

“north woods” is about a house, standing for centuries, that many generations have lived in. each chapter delves into one (or more) of the inhabitants’ stories starting from the very beginning. it is a novel, but feels more like a short story collection.

the prose is beautiful, detailed, and rich. mason has taken inspiration from the classic victorian novel and experiments with different methods of delivery and form. some chapters are far more interesting than others, and if you hadn’t read the blurb explaining what the book was about, you’d be lost and bored out of your mind. it is very well written, it just feels rather slow.

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review!

Sometimes a book is so gorgeously written it makes you glad to be alive just to read it. The North Woods is that kind of book. Set in the forest of western Massachusetts, it is the story of one plot of land from Colonial America to the present day. Told in a polyphony of voices, The North Woods is a haunted and often hilarious tale. This is historical fiction as it is meant to be.

Thanks once again to NetGalley for this advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review.
This one is hard to describe and do it justice. Set over the course of hundreds of years, the main character of this story is a plot of land in western Massachusetts. The inhabitants over time live in the house, work the land, harvest from the trees and soil and leave it to their followers, or do they? Expertly crafted, this book changes writing styles throughout, weaving the stories together but distinctly. The book was surprising and strangely comforting.
I enjoyed it! A solid 4*

This book is the story of one house/piece of land and it’s inhabitants over many years. It was a little hard to get into a first. The writing is rich and beautiful, but also thick and complex. The structure also varies and although it’s a novel, it reads a bit like a short story collection. Overall, a solid book, with fantastic writing and imagery, but not a lot of character or plot development.

Ive been a fan of Daniel Mason since Winter Soldier. This new book makes me a super fan.Powerful book that combines Western Mass history and the devastation of climate change with poignant, stunning, and laugh out loud comic tales of the human beings who came upon, shared or interacted with the little yellow house and acreage. Hundreds of years here told through the unique stories of hermits, artists, and climate scientists as well as the arrival of insect pests that laid waste to the elms and chestnut trees that once dominated this part of the country. Unsolved Murders and mayhem, too.As well as what the afterlife had in store for some of them.
Full disclosure--I live in the Berkshires and connect with the forest descriptions, hidden shacks left to ruin, and small town characters described here, as well as the gentrification of these forgotten places.
My own American chestnut struggles against blight in my backyard --planted decades ago in a leap of faith. But...New green buds this spring!

The writing and structure are reminiscent of 19th Century novels where I picture the reader sitting in a easy chair by the fire spending his or her evenings slowly working their way through the book's progress. While this isn't nearly as painful to read as, say, the books of James, that sort of narrative isn't for me.

I'm not much of a judge of such books either so I'll say it's all right but for me, it was more of a soporific than a book I enjoyed any aspect of.

This book is about a house in the Massachusetts wilderness and all it's occupants over the many years.
Some of the occupants I found interesting. Some I did not. It is very beautifully written. Each chapter a story within itself. It just wasn't enough to hold my attention. It seems to be a well loved book. It just wasn't for me. I struggled to finish this book. It was not plot driven or character driven. I had nothing to hold onto, to anticipate. I just went in blind hoping for the best and I didn't get anything I felt needed to be told.
I have another book by the author called The Winter Soldier. Maybe I will like that one better.
Thank for to NetGalley and Random House for for this Early read.

This is an interesting way to present a story. Mason offers compelling characters and imaginatively tells his tale. This one will stick with me for a while.

I really appreciate the free copy for review!!

Interesting stories intertwine, about all that happened in one single house. Interesting concept, that I enjoyed very much. Makes you think of what a house really contains inside it. All that the home sees

I really wanted to love this book, but it didn't end up working very well for me. I loved the concept and I loved the interwoven stories, but it moved very slowly and some of the stories felt disjointed to me.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Random House (thanks, Emani!) for providing me with an ARC of this novel.

I finished the novel recently, and I am somewhat at a loss for words. To say that this novel is surprising is an understatement. I started off reading it, and I thought I knew where I was headed, but I was wrong. We start off with the story of the two young lovers running off to find their Eden, the writing filled with beautiful evocations of nature, and you turn the page expecting the next chapter to continue their story. Instead, you realize you've been strapped into a novelistic rollercoaster with many unseen curves, drops, and climbs ahead. A few times I found myself shaking my head, thinking "what did I just read?"

The heart or nucleus of the novel is the yellow house and its surrounding land, and this locale plays host to events tragic, comedic, horrific, beatific. It is like the whole of human experience is played out in miniature by a motley cast of characters who appear on the pages and then are gone, only to flicker back into memory when least expected. Even through the differing styles and voices of the narrative, there is always an interconnectedness that helps to center you as a reader, that brings you back to the continual progression of the story of this yellow house and the humans who have a connection to it through blood, history, or circumstance.

The novel is tremendously inventive and creative in the way it presents its story, with different points of view and different forms of narrative, and one can be slightly awestruck by the technical achievement of the writing or find it more of a struggle to navigate if one likes a more linear approach. But there is something beneath the technique -- some questioning about our place in the world, our relation to nature, the inevitability of change, the future impact of our decisions and actions -- that lingers after you've finished the book. The last section of the book especially made me contemplate the future and what awaits. For me, a good novel is one that makes you reflect a bit on your life, that makes you see things just a little differently. Now I find myself staring at the hillside outside my office and wonder about all the things it has seen.

Beautiful, but not a story for me. I had a hard time turning each page.Although the novel was very well written, the story, to me, fell flat

Wow., I really loved North Woods. It was kind of a slow burn for me but it really, really worked. It is about a house in the woods of New England and the people who inhabit it at various times. Often things from the past will bleed through to their present. What starts with some apple seeds becomes an orchard, becomes a home, becomes, a mass grave, becomes a place for healing, becomes a haven for ghosts. Just truly remarkable. I have never read anything quite like it. I found myself describing what I had read nightly to my partner, I needed someone else to know about this. The ending was spectacular and I will not soon forget it. I highly recommend this one.

I admit I initially had trouble getting into this book as it's so unusual, but once I did I found it engaging! One plot of land, one house...what could be simpler? Everything changes! As we witness many inhabitants--both human and animal, we are immersed in a story that is unlike any other, but you grow to love the characters as the story is lyrical and fun!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

Daniel Mason’s <i>North Woods</i> is an ingeniously structured novel about a single house and a single plot of land. Mason’s tightly interconnected stories take us through the western Massachusetts frontier in early colonial times all the way to contemporary Massachusetts. Mason introduces us to the residents of the house and how they’ve interacted with each other and their land. <i>North Woods</i> is not a family saga, so much as the saga of a well-worn house, added on to and used over five centuries, with the many mysteries that it holds within. The house, like its residents and its land, is organic and constantly evolving. Mason conveys human and natural mysteries, together with profound respect and empathy for his troubled, disappointed, striving characters.

As he demonstrates in <i>North Woods</i> and has previously demonstrated in both The <i>Winter Soldier</i> and <i>The Piano Tuner</i>, Daniel Mason is a great story teller, with great imagination and range. These three Mason novels span centuries and continents. I am eager to find out where Mason’s imagination takes him next.

5 stars

I would like to thank NetGalley and Random House for providing me with advanced readers’ copy of this excellent novel.

This novel is a literary masterpiece full of smart, captivating writing and intricate storytelling. If the trees in a forest or a home on ancient land could talk, what tales would they tell? Do ghosts of the past live only in memories?

This is an enchanting read that describes snippets of life on a property in Western Massachusetts, and the connections that remain throughout a span of hundreds of years. Vivid imagery transports you into the lush mysterious depths of the titular woods, its flora and fauna described in stunning detail. Some of these elements from nature are beautifully used as symbolism throughout the story as well. Told from different character point of views, you're made keenly aware of the motivations for their actions and ultimately can't help but to believe in their hopes and dreams or empathize with their tragedies. Poetic at times (literally and figuratively), the author's prose also has a touch of the morose and wit that calls to mind Edgar Allan Poe's style. What at first seems to be a mundane story about this cabin in the woods, turns out to be a rich, dark, and almost hypnotic journey through varied seasons of life, death and the history that lives on in the future.

I absolutely loved this and highly recommend for fans of literary and historical fiction.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley for an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for my honest review. I will be sharing my review on Instagram and Amazon.

Pulitzer Prize Finalist Daniel Mason ties together a series of short stories featuring characters through the ages that come to live in a small house in the woods of New England. Runaway Puritan lovers, British soldier, crime reporter, the fascinating array of people, animals and more, make a home in the house. Readers

Mason makes magic as he ties it all together in a subversive way that keeps the reader guessing and searching. How are we all connected? How do we live on in memory after death? If you love a cutting edge novel, North Woods is for you! #NorthWoods #DanielMason #RandomHouse

North Woods by Daniel Mason is a captivating novel that follows the lives of various individuals and non-human characters across centuries, all of whom have been connected to a single house in the woods of New England. The narrative begins with two young lovers who escape from a Puritan colony to live in a humble cabin in the woods. From there, the novel weaves together the stories of an English soldier, a pair of spinster twins, a crime reporter, a lovelorn painter, a sinister con man, a stalking panther, and a lusty beetle, among others.

Mason's highly inventive writing style brings each character's story to life, capturing their joys, fears, and struggles with exquisite detail. The novel explores the interconnectivity of history, nature, and language, and how these elements shape and influence the lives of the characters. Mason's descriptions of the natural world are particularly stunning, bringing to life the beauty and mystery of the woods.

North Woods is a novel that will appeal to readers who enjoy stories that span centuries, and those who appreciate the intricate connections between human and non-human lives. Mason's ability to weave together multiple storylines into a cohesive narrative is impressive, and his writing is both lyrical and poignant. The novel is a testament to the enduring power of memory, and the ways in which our lives are shaped by the past, present, and future.