North Woods

A wonderful work of historical fiction with a menagerie of characters you can’t stop thinking about. And beetle sex!

North Woods tells the story of a specific place: a cabin in Massachusetts that was first built by a young couple fleeing their Puritan village. The novel starts with their story, and then moves us through all the people, and some of the other inhabitants, of the cabin and the woods around it over time. Mason speaks to our connection to nature, our environments, and other people through the stories and experiences that occur in this one little corner of the world. Absolutely loved this book.

Such an interesting approach to tell about the same plot of land from first settlers to the future. Loved the way he wove earlier characters into the plot after their demise.

This was one of the more unique and intelligent books I'd read in a long time. The writing is undeniably well crafted, and the plot unusual enough to keep you endlessly wondering what was coming next. I will say, toward the end, it dragged for me. I was ready for it to wrap up about fifty pages before it did. Regardless, it was one of my top favorites as I haven't read anything like it before.

This monumental novel spanning centuries is a heart-rending hymn to Nature, Time, and humankind's place in it as one small piece within a far greater "architecture." It is brilliantly imaginative, a time-capsule of a novel whose many voices shift and change even as the land itself continually does.

it's such an intriguing idea to take a certain place and look at it through time and generations in a variety of narrative voices. The writing really has joy and rapture in it.

This novel makes a place the main character. The humans who interact with this place provide the conflict and the sounding board for the essence of a location. It is a unique book and I loved the way Mason threaded the web of story into this central nexus.

There are stories where the setting is a character. In North Woods, as the title suggests, the setting is the MAIN character. The generations that pass over, under, and through the land are all just temporary visitors (as are we all) who leave their mark in different ways on the land they inhabit. At first, I felt confused by the seemingly unconnected tales of the "heathen" tribe and the young lovers who preceded them on the same land. But once I fell into the rhythm and gorgeous language of each vignette, the story washed over me and eventually the dots… show more.

A story of a house, a bit of land in western Massachusetts, and an apple orchard, spanning three generations. The novel is both a page-turner and a collection of disparate voices, elements, including letters, diaries, poems, song lyrics, medical case notes, real-estate listings, vintage botanical illustrations, and a true-crime detective story, among others. But it's not disjointed, and it is wise, beautifully written and original. There's violence and murder, and there's also a lot of warmth and humanity.

A sweeping historical fiction that travels across two hundred years in one house in the New England woods. Brilliant at taking small events (who knew how fascinating it would be to read about bugs mating in a piece of wood that ends up in the fireplace!) to weave together a grand and memorable story.