North Woods Mason Daniel (2023)

When two young lovers flee a Puritan colony, they little suspect that their humble cabin in the woods will become home to an extraordinary succession of human and inhuman characters. An English soldier destined for glory abandons the battlefields of the New World to devote himself to apples. Spinster twins navigate war and famine, envy and desire. A crime reporter uncovers a mass grave, only to discover that the ancient trees refuse to give up their secrets. A lovelorn painter, a sinister conman, a stalking panther and a lustful beetle each confront the wonder and mystery around them, gradually realizing that the dark, raucous and beautiful past is very much alive. In his fourth novel, Pulitzer Prize finalist Daniel Mason offers an inventive tale filled with love and madness, humour and hope. Following the cycles of history, nature and even language, North Woods reveals the many magical ways in which people are connected to their environment, history and one another. It is a novel about buried secrets and inevitable fates, as well as a way of looking at the world.