A review by serendipitysbooks
North Woods by Daniel Mason

emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

 North Woods feels like an American Classic. It’s epic in time spanning from the mid 1700s through to the present and then into the future, yet small in geographical scope centred on a single yellow house and the woods surrounding it in Massachusetts. It unfolds like a series of interconnected short stories, each focused on the current inhabitants of the house. Spotting the connections between the characters and the stories is all part of the enjoyment. Mason shows his writing chops by incorporating a wide variety of genres and styles in this novel. There’s poetry, letters, journals, magazine articles, hospital notes, and a speech; there’s nature writing (particularly strong), true crime and a ghost story. The novel features a cast of memorable, fascinating characters - jealous spinster sisters, a Black woman fleeing a slave catcher, a closeted gay painter, a lusty beetle - not to mention a whole host of themes, some explored in greater depth than others. There’s violence to both the environment and the people, people move on and the landscape changes, and yet humanity and the land continue to survive. There may have been a bit too much of the supernatural for my personal tastes but that didn’t stop me totally enjoying and being thoroughly impressed by this novel. 
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