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A Novel
by Daniel Mason
Book Reviewed by:A sweeping novel about a single house in the woods of New England, told through the lives of those who inhabit it across the centuries—a daring, moving tale of memory and fate from the Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of The Piano Tuner and The Winter Soldier.
When two young lovers abscond from a Puritan colony, little do they know that their humble cabin in the woods will become the home of an extraordinary succession of human and nonhuman characters alike. An English soldier, destined for glory, abandons the battlefields of the New World to devote himself to growing apples. A pair of spinster twins navigate war and famine, envy and desire. A crime reporter unearths an ancient mass grave—only to discover that the earth refuse to give up their secrets. A lovelorn painter, a sinister con man, a stalking panther, a lusty beetle: As the inhabitants confront the wonder and mystery around them, they begin to realize that the dark, raucous, beautiful past is very much alive.
This magisterial and highly inventive novel from Pulitzer Prize finalist Daniel Mason brims with love and madness, humor and hope. Following the cycles of history, nature, and even language, North Woods shows the myriad, magical ways in which we're connected to our environment, to history, and to one another. It is not just an unforgettable novel about secrets and destinies, but a way of looking at the world that asks the timeless question: How do we live on, even after we're gone?
The natural history of New England's forests is central as the novel mourns how chestnut blight and Dutch elm disease have decimated the woods. The book also ponders how people's decisions affect the landscape. Mason presents dueling visions: a utopian future where trees are restored to life, versus a dystopian one where heat and fire threaten survival. I found it rewarding to spot biblical echoes: The fleeing Puritans enact an expulsion from Eden; the Osgood sisters have a Cain and Abel dynamic; and Teale's intimate relationship with his friend is in the tradition of King David's with Jonathan. The focus on history and myth feels somewhat at odds with the matter-of-fact reappearances of the (un)dead. Mason doesn't explain what's going on but appears to be enjoying the intellectual gymnastics, in a way that reminded me of Julian Barnes's A History of the World in 10½ Chapters...continued
Full Review
(780 words)
(Reviewed by Rebecca Foster).
A mysterious recurring figure in Daniel Mason's Massachusetts-set novel North Woods — starting with the cover image — is the "catamount." This folk name, which originates from the Middle English "cat of the mountaine," usually refers to a particular North American wild cat species, the cougar (Puma concolor), which is also known as the mountain lion, puma, or panther and lives to around age 13 in the wild. The different names are used more or less interchangeably, but historically have corresponded to previously recognized subspecies.
The species once ranged across the whole of the Americas. However, ongoing bounty hunting led to the eastern cougar subspecies being declared officially extinct in 2018 (although it was ...
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North Woods is the most original and spellbinding novel I've read in ages. Mason makes bramble, brush, and orchard come alive with the spirits of their unforgettable former inhabitants. Their lives and passionate loves and their chilling acts of vengeance had me glued to my seat.
