Let ‘North Woods’ be your next book club pick

This work of storytelling magic from Daniel Mason is about an ancient farmhouse in western Massachusetts

By Daniel Mason

By the time ghosts start gathering in Daniel Mason’s “North Woods,” it’s too late to flee. You’re already rooted to this haunting, haunted novel about a homestead in western Massachusetts. Don’t be afraid: Go in the house.

I’ve been raving about Mason’s work since his gorgeous debut, “The Piano Tuner,” was published over 20 years ago while he was in medical school. He’s since won fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, along with a Pushcart Prize, an O. Henry Prize and a National Magazine Award. In 2021, his first collection of short stories, “A Registry of My Passage Upon the Earth,” was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in fiction.

And yet Mason somehow still feels always about to break out. The literary gods are inscrutable — the book club overlords even more so — but I’m praying you’ll consider getting lost in “North Woods” this fall. Elegantly designed with photos and illustrations, this is a time-spanning, genre-blurring work of storytelling magic. Check out the full review at the Wahington Post.