I just finished North Woods in a rush, eager to know the ending and yet not wanting it to end. What a breathtaking book! It follows the many people who inhabit a particular house in Massachusetts throughout the centuries. It is a microcosm of the American story from the Puritans to the not so distant future. Beautifully written - a times lyrical, at times folksy, always surprisingly original. Daniel Mason not only creates a huge cast of characters, he writes with such love about the trees, the flowers, the seasons off this bit of New England forest. Indeed the woods are a character in themselves. Throughout the centuries, the house sees murder, love, despair and thwarted hopes, and the presence of each inhabitant lives on. The best book I’ve read in years. Magical and riveting. Not sentimental. Original characters.
North Woods” proves captivating despite its piecemeal structure is testament to Mason's powers as a writer, his stylish and supple narrative voice. The novel lives in its oddments, arrayed for us by an author-collector well versed in pre-modern fruit farming, folk medicine and popular songs through the ages.