This is a good solid read that I thoroughly enjoyed. It spans decades and generations and delivers stories of growing up, and the dysfunction that surrounds that.
We start in the present with Nate Ray who is so down on his luck it has all but run out on him. His relationship with his son, Brandon, himself soon to be a father, is strained. The one with his own father, Ronnie, likewise but, when summoned by him to help after the death of his sister, Nate's aunt, he has no choice to agree. Make or break time, maybe... nothing to lose anyway...
We then switch focus to Electra Ray who is planning to leave her husband. Seeking out a better and safer life for her and her son. She has a plan, a place to go, a person to be with, she just has to get there.
And then there's Cherie and her mother who are packing up Cherie's grandmother's estate. She discovers papers that both interests and intrigues her and which require further investigation, so she enlists her father to help.
It's all interconnected and convoluted and beautiful. I really can't do it all justice in a review. I haven't the words. It's horrid and wonderful all at the same time. Nature and nurture shaping people's lives. Determination born of necessity. How the past, recent and long ago, leads the present. And it's emotional. All the feels had me rooting for various people most of the time. Spoilers prevent me from going into detail.
It jumps around in time and flits between first, third and - interestingly enough - second person. That took a bit of getting used to. But it was always obvious when we were and who we were with. Even given that we follow several people in multiple timelines. It was always easy to follow and that's usually not always easy for me. The skill of the author I guess!
And the characters, as always for this author, are all so well described. So easy to connect with - both positive and negative.
And the story gets on with itself very well indeed with no waffle or padding. The settings are described in accordance with complementing and progressing the narrative. But it is integral at times and could also be a character in its own rights as it is influential.
All in all, another winner from one of my go to authors. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

It is always a pleasure to read Craig Lancaster’s books. I enjoyed all the characters, but this one was sort of choppy. Having split timelines with different narrators is the norm these days. This book has that but it really got confusing with Cherie having her own split timeline amongst all the others.
However! The story is absolutely there and very readable. His characters are so very human and are portrayed in a relatable way. It all ties together and I’m glad I got it in hard cover, as I will definitely read it again.

I adore Craig Lancaster’s writing, and have been a huge fan ever since reading his Edward books (if you haven’t read them, do! Start with 600 Hours of Edward). He has a wonderfully lyrical style, that’s almost poetic. And he gets ordinary people. Even better, he puts them on the pages of his books in ways that are simply extraordinary. Dreaming Northward is no exception. It’s a journey into the lives of a family that’s had its share of abuse, pain, dysfunction, love and hope. I really enjoyed all the different threads of the story, but I must admit I found I really had to concentrate as the story does jump around a lot - across characters, settings and eras. And the author also plays with points of view, using the unusual second person for some chapters, which I also found a little confusing. Perhaps reading it a few chapters at a time, often in bed after a glass of wine, wasn’t the best idea! 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4.

I received this from Netgalley.com.

The story was set in multiple timelines with multiple generations of characters making (IMHO) difficult to follow and translate as the story jumped from era to era.

The story in and of itself was OK, the writing was OK, hated the format.

2.5☆