I once worked for an outfit called the Canadian Institute of Historical Microreproductions (who later changed their name to the less wordy Canadiana.org, before getting absorbed into another institution in 2018 or thereabouts.) One of the things I did, and one of the things that I’m most proud of, is that I worked on an educational website for high school history classes called Canada in the Making. Throughout my writing and editing of content for that site, I was given access to a database of historical records that had been scanned from old microfilm into digital files. Some of my finds were quite startling to me — I would uncover journals hundreds of years old with moth-eaten pages that were rendered unreadable in some cases. But I also found intact documents going back to Canada’s earliest settlements in the early 1600s that were pristine and probably fascinating to read (Canada was first settled by the French, whose language I have not learned). Reading Pulitzer Prize-finalist Daniel Mason’s North Woods was a little like discovering those artifacts. That’s because part of the book presents a series of fictitious historical documents going back to about 1760. Mason is a writer of quality of the sort that you might be mistaken that these documents, which help tell the history of a house and property located in western Massachusetts, are real. The rest of the book is a series of interconnected short stories told in chapters featuring various inhabitants of the land and the home. Suffice it to say, North Woods is the kind of book that you’ve probably never read before. It is a masterpiece in that it teaches you how to read it. But you might need a little help.

Normally, when I encounter a book that is strange and unusual, I advise potential readers reading these reviews to stop eyeballing Medium and just read the darn novel without knowing anything about it to preserve a sense of adventure, I suppose. However, with North Woods, I would advise the opposite. It pays to have this book spoiled for you because it starts out being a fairly difficult read. The first part of the book, set in the eighteenth century and starting with the French and Indian War, is written in the style of documents of the era, so it can be a little hard to understand Old English if you’re not used to it. While the novel does get easier to read as it goes on, knowing what it’s about can help you make heads or tails of it a little better. Thus, I would encourage would-be readers to read as many reviews as they can of this book before starting. Spoil the book if you must. Otherwise, you might get a little frustrated by it and not be sure how it makes sense at the outset. Now, I consider myself — and I don’t want to sound like I’m conceited here — to be of above-average intelligence. I’m not a genius, but let’s say I graduated from a very tough undergraduate university program with high honours. Even I had trouble with this book at the beginning. So going to other online reviews and seeing what this book is all about may be helpful. North Woods is the sort of novel that you can’t spoil anyway as each character is introduced only for a short period — a chapter or two at most.

So, you’re probably wondering about the contents of the book — beyond alternating between regular exposition and archival documents, which range from everything from pamphlets to song lyrics of the day. North Woods is essentially the biography of a house or a piece of property, kind of like what Phil Jenkins did in non-fiction with An Acre of Time, which is the history of a parcel of land in downtown Ottawa, Canada. Inhabitants include a solider named Charles Osgoode who has a fetish for a type of apple that grows well on the plot’s soil, his daughters Alice and Mary — who have a sibling rivalry so intense it leads to murder, a mountain lion who makes the house its home when it is briefly abandoned, a woman whose son has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and frequently disappears from home, and a visiting true crime columnist who has been tipped off on a very grisly murder that has happened on the property. Now, having given you that synopsis, I would like to say that this is a book that is probably going to take a run at some major literary awards because it is so unique in structure. As well, Mason easily gives each of his characters a distinct voice — they all have different cadences from one another. That’s the true success of this read: you’ll never stop believing that any of this novel could have been real or at the very least seem authentic. (The only jarring note on this front happens when Mason refers to Canada at times when the country was still known as British North America.) North Woods is a clever novel as much as it is an initially baffling one — but it ultimately winds up being a great read. It’s not for the readerly faint of heart, and some may be lost in this book. But if you’re up for a challenge and like to flex your brain a bit when you read, you’ll find North Woods to be propulsive and thrilling. It gets better and more understandable as it ties its loose ends together and moves from the antiquated world into the modern world of the 21st century.

In the end, North Woods is a fascinating piece of alternate history, if you can consider this book as existing within that genre. (It is literary fiction first and foremost, though.) I was quite taken by this book. Even though some of this is deadly serious, I found parts to be rather humourous — which broadens the scope of the writing. I also thought this read was interesting in that it is a retelling of the Garden of Eden story, complete with a Cain and Abel-type allusion at one point. This is the story about the fall of mankind and how history has a habit of repeating itself through wars and bloody conflicts. Mason has done something rather remarkable: craft a narrative that will have you guessing as to the authenticity of the narrative. For that reason, North Woods comes highly recommended by me. It certainly takes me back to the days I was working on that educational website and spending my idyllic days poring over documents that teenagers could learn from. This is worthy of more than a look. This is an experience.

I loved this book. The creative use of a dwelling as a protagonist, the fascinating cast of characters, and how he artfully intertwined the cycles of the natural world had me spellbound from the start. What a gifted writer and a seemingly fascinating man. I spent most summers of my youth in the woods of New Hampshire and Mason transported me back there throughout this story. He weaves a exquisite tale and I very much enjoyed reading this book. I will miss his storytelling, as I move onto my next read. I give this book a full five stars

In a recent interview, Angie Kim remarked that linked stories comprised her favorite style, and singled out this magnificent novel as one example. To be successful, a set of linked stories needs a connecting theme, and here we have a house in the woods of Western Massachusetts, first started by a young Pilgrim couple fleeing the elders strictures, and carrying down through the centuries. Daniel Mason obviously has a deep love of his subject, focussing on the forces of nature (sexy beetles? insistent seeds?) and the daring to include layer upon layer of ghostly presence. This is one of those books I wish I could press into everyone's hand and shout, "READ THIS."

What a beautiful moving story Daniel Mason creates with his ode to nature and the passage of time. Told in monthly seasonal segments and moving through history the story begins during the French and Indian War and using the same plot of land and yellow house transitions through time and people and nature’s changes. We meet an Indian captive, a would be appple farmer and his children hoping to change the world with Osgood’s Wonder. His never married daughters and the jealousy that occurs moving the house and land to new dwellers and changes. Ghosts and wild animals share the house through generations as each new inhabitant share their story only to have it intertwine with the next. Mason’s ability to share the beauty and intricacies of the land had me smelling and feeling it.

This story was so moving and yet for me a personal one having grown up in north central Massachusetts . I envisioned woods that I walked in, mountains I had climbed and historic figures I knew from that area to make Mason’s story even more magical. But you need not come from the forests of Western Massachusetts or the bordering state of New York to be pulled in to such a wonderful tale.

My many thanks to #NetGalley for the advance copy of #NorthWoods.

Daniel Mason writes beautifully so I wasn’t surprised to be drawn in with the first sentence since I loved the writing in [book:The Winter Soldier|37946436] and [book:The Piano Tuner|55096]. In this imaginatively written book he connects the stories of multiple characters to a place and a solitary house in the north woods of Massachusetts. The characters become bound to the natural surrounding and to each other over time. The descriptions need to be reread at times just because. The format is a blend of stories, songs, letters, an article by a true crime writer. It is though, gruesome at times, dark at times, even creepy.

I can’t say that I was taken by every story, though. Yet it feels as if there is something profound here about the linking of the past to the present, a regeneration of the land and the trees through centuries. I loved where it began and ended, just not every story in between. While I was emotionally connected in the beginning to the young Puritan couple who started it all, I didn’t fully connect with all of the characters moving forward until the last chapter centuries later whose affinity and love for the woods of the past provides a stunning ending. In spite of the shortcoming for me, it’s 4 stars because the writing carries it .

I received a copy of this book from Random House through NetGalley.

Loved this epic tale that begins with a tiny seed (literally) and grows and blooms into a much grander story of love, passion, envy, and most definitely death. As each chapter unfolds, you’ll become captivated by the growth and transformation of the main character- the yellow house and its orchard- and go through the full life cycle of these”characters “. Filled with beautiful descriptions of forest and the surrounding countryside in that, you’ll find yourself looking a little more deeply at your piece of nature and wonder what secrets it holds.

I loved the writing in this literary novel, but I got lost a few times, and generally prefer stories with less characters, but the writing is impressive.

A story of change through a house located in a forested area of Massachusetts and its successive inhabitants, beginning in colonial times to some modern future date. The writing is inventive—beautifully evocative of place with special reverence for nature and wildlife. Chapters vary in form including letters, poems, songs. Making an inanimate house the main character makes continuity in the narrative more difficult though the author does try to bridge the gap between most chapters by carrying over an artifact or descendant. Because it is set up almost like a series of short stories, there was plenty of opportunities to introduce multiple situations like apple orchard development, seances, jealousy, schizophrenia, a gay relationship, murder, ghostly hauntings, etc.

Although I enjoyed most of the chapters, as a whole I was disappointed that there was nothing for me to feel connected to.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC to read and review.

This novel recounts the 400 year existence and transformation of a home and a landscape in Northwestern Massachusetts through multiple characters, stories and narrative styles. Mason says the book was driven by the biological concept of succession; the study of how a natural environment changes over time. Complex, fascinating, and filled with wonderful characters and exquisite prose, this is a great read.

An spell-binging novel in a multitude of forms, spanning decades, and centered around a single house.

This is an unusual book because the main character is a property located in New England. It is a wooded land that once was an apple orchard . This novel begins with the puritans and Indians living there and ends many decades later in more modern times. The inhabitants that lived there over the years all have a story to tell. The house is haunted by past tenants but not all the occupants are aware of the hauntings. I found the story to be rather slow at times. Some of the occupants were more interesting than others.

This is a tough one to review as I found it very complex and uneven and I'm not sure I'll do it justice. And at the outset, I wasn't sure I'd like it! BUT--incredible prose which at times took my breath away. Sometimes a bit confusing [to me] because although there were interconnecting stories--not always so obvious. However, the same yellow house in the woods in western Massachusetts appeared again and again--over four centuries--as did the Wonder apple.

There is SO MUCH in this book--art, colonialism, grief, aging, sexual preferences [hidden], life and death, slavery, nature, psychiatric disorders [Note: Mason also is an assistant professor of clinical psychology at Stanford], nature, a catamount, AND MORE!! Some of the stories are long, others quite short. Very dry humor.

The story of Mary and Alice--amazing! As was the beetle mating!!

So many descriptions I loved:

"Time had creased my brow, garlanded my chin with several companions, and furred both ear and nostril generously against the cold."

"...whimsy of a God who would deliver water to the earth in the guise of a white powder!" [snow]

"She always slept poorly in hotels, but the bed in the Knig Philip was of a vengeful discomfort."

In the right hands, I can see this as a movie!

Recommend, One must read it slowly to savor and take in all that it offers.

4.5

"North Woods" is a lovely book with an ingenious structure that elevates it. Interconnected stories reveal the bones, the core of a small homestead in Western Massachusetts from the 17th century to modern times. Author Daniel Mason revels in the flora and fauna of the area and what each makes of the land. The stories follow the seasons, and the characters may appear (or reappear) in different forms throughout time. Naturally, it's hard to make all the stories equally compelling--although I found myself wishing most of them would go on longer.

Thanks to Penguin Random House and NetGalley for a digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.

I read an advanced review copy of this book courtesy of Netgalley.

North Woods is the panoramic story of a single place throughout time, a plot of land in Massachusetts. It is a set of related and interwoven short stories. Mason shifts between styles and genres throughout the stories.

I admire the vision in this book, though it was difficult to perceive a narrative and the emotional depth I wanted, perhaps due to shifting styles.

This is a highly anticipated book, and while I see what there is to recommend it, it fell slightly flat for me. I wanted to be more engaged with the characters.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5795565710

Daniel Mason’s North Woods is a wonderfully and precisely crafted collection of related short stories that greatly impresses with its varied styles, vividly detailed descriptions, sharp sentence constructions, connecting echoes, and a few unexpected twists and turns. I would have preferred a bit more emotional depth at times, though several of the stories, particularly toward the end, offer up some more than a few moving scenes. Between those moments and Mason’s consummate craftsmanship, North Woods is an easy book to enthusiastically recommend.

The center of the narrative is a plot of land in Massachusetts, introduced to the reader through the eyes of a young couple in love fleeing the constraints of Puritan society. From there, the stories move us successively forward in time but not space as various characters inhabit the same spot, including but not limited to: a young woman kidnapped by Native Americans, a former soldier bent on starting an apple orchard, his two spinster daughters who take over the business, a landscape artist, a true crime reporter, an amateur historian, an ecologist, a pair of lusty beetles (yes, you read that right), and a mountain lion. Mason shifts not only between decades/centuries and characters but also between genres/styles, employing for instance an epistolary structure in one story, a more pulp style for another, a classic ghost story for another. He even tosses in a few ballads. Tone also is varied, with some stories incredibly tense, some incredibly chilling, and others offering up laugh out loud moments. The skillful ease with which Mason slips in and out of various voices is one the great pleasures of the book.

Another is the richly vivid descriptions of the natural world, as the stories depict various seasons via changing hues, plants, animal life, temperatures, etc. but also larger changes over greater stretches of time as the land is constantly reformed either naturally or through the work of the people living on it. Here, for instance, is a description of the land in August:

Snakes settles into the warm coves between the stones. A wolf pack gathers briefly in the lee of the cabin; the pups chase white butterflies at the edges of the pond. In the garden, the squash grows plump on thundershower, the trailing beams swarm up the cornstalks, the corn ripens in its husk. Butterflies alight upon the swaying sprays of boneset, and milkweed pods split open and begin to spill their tuft.

And in another story, the land is buried in winter:

The banks are lined with fantastic ice — columns like organ pipes, bulbs straight from the glassblowers, thin sheets through which one can watch the rising bubbles. Indeed, I have become a connoisseur of ice these days: the sleet like hissing sand, the white that coats the roads like baker’s dustings, the crystalline mesh, thin as spun sugar, that shatters with the passing of my hand . . . ragged rime upon the leaves and every single bobbing stalk of winter weed.

This sharply grounding painting of reality plays nicely with the various supernatural elements that run throughout the collection, though I won’t detail them so as to avoid spoilers. Suffice to say such moments don’t feel at all out of place in this vividly realized world and in fact accrue over the series of stories so that the ending story feels all but inevitable. Meanwhile, though each story stands on its own, Mason threads a number of echoes throughout — images, themes, recurring objects, characters connected by blood or in some other fashion — that serve to make the collection feel if not entirely novelistic certainly more unified.

If I had one quibble, as noted it would be that while I enjoyed (and often admired) every story here, they didn’t always land with an emotional impact, though the ending does, so one somewhat forgets the absence in earlier stories. I should also note that the book as whole falls more into the “quiet” mode, with a lot of description and a focus more on character than “action.” I’m a fan of such works, so I had no issue with pace nor any desire for “more stuff to happen,” but your mileage may vary.

The novel in short story form is one of my favorite genres, and North Woods is an excellent example of that storytelling mode. I loved the structure, the polyglot voicing, the way the shifts in tone and voice and style are mirrored by the setting’s own ecological shifts, the beautifully detailed nature writing side by side with the more fantastical moments, and the carefully dropped references that stitch one story to another. Highly recommended.

Fascinating interconnected stories of the various residents of a house in New England, down through history..

There was a house. Many different people lived in that house over many years

-a pair of young lovers abscond from a Puritan colony
-an English soldier starts growing apples
-his spinster daughters continue the legacy
-a crime reporter unearths a mass grave
-others face the challenges of the North Woods

This book has been received well by many. Unfortunately, I am not one of those many. The plot is disjointed and the author's prose frequently left me befuddled. I read a book for enjoyment and do not enjoy having to read a sentence multiple times in order to get the message.

2 stars

3.5 stars, rounding down to 3. A book with a great premise and way of telling a story - US history as told through the history of a house and the Western Massachusetts land it sits on, from Puritan days on. Some great chapters along the way, sometimes quite heartbreaking, for example, but at the end of the day, the book didn't quite bring it home for me, pun intended. It feels like other authors have done better with the premise, such as Norah Lofts and her Suffolk trilogy.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

I've long been a fan of Daniel Mason, but with this latest novel he's truly outdone himself. <I>North Woods<I> is a literary masterpiece, and if the beginning was a little slow to draw me in, I was glued to the book within a couple of chapters and constantly thinking about it at the times I wasn't reading. This book takes its time to blossom, so do yourself a favor and don't be in a rush with this novel. Enjoy the lyrical prose and the incredible sense of place Mason creates as he details an area in the woods of New England over a span of centuries. There are connections between the generations of inhabitants, some more tenuous than others, but the sense of history and the cycles of the natural world, as well as life and death, continue on. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for a digital review copy.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the free e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is literary fiction at its finest. Unfortunately for me, I found it a bit slow and the characters underdeveloped. The story focuses on a house and it's inhabitants over many years. I found it hard to become invested in the story at first. The writing does not disappoint as its rich and beautiful, but also complex. The structure also varies and it reads a bit like a short story collection. Overall, a solid book, with fantastic writing and imagery, but the pacing was too slow and there is not a lot of character or plot development.

For me, its a 3 star read.