Centuries of history as told by the various inhabitants of a single house standing in the remote north woods of Massachusetts from its 17th century construction by young Puritan lovers absconding from their settlement right up to near present day. Not only does the story inhabit a range of characters and their stories, it’s also supplemented with additional media such as journals, letters, songs, and even case notes at one point.
Author Daniel Mason penned North Woods in twelve installments, one per month, over the course of a single year and the novel follows a similar structure with the interconnected stories spanning hundreds of years told across twelve months. The lush description of the natural world surrounding the cabin is just as important to the story as the characters and cabin itself.
This was something of a sneaky read for me. It was one of my last reads of 2023 and ended up a favorite. I liked it right from the start, but my impression grew and grew as the story unfolded and I became so impressed by the layers and echos, the interconnected stories knit so well together and had so much to say about time, succession, history, the cycle of seasons, humanity, and nature.
Plus, oddly enough, reading North Woods recalled both Black River Orchard and The Vaster Wilds, also 2023 favorites and wildly different books! Random and appreciated.
That Bookish Life 