“North Woods” by Daniel Mason
This is an unusual inventive novel focusing on a settler’s homestead, located in the North Woods of New England and the countryside, woodland and apple orchard that surround it. However, that misses out the author’s wide span of characters, some more likeable than others, who feature, enhancing the book into a great read, spanning four centuries, from early North American settlement through the American wars and into the modern era.
Opening in the 1760s with a young couple escaping their puritan settlement; the story moves swiftly onto Charles Osgood, a British soldier who takes over the original dwelling and creates an apple orchard producing a mouth-watering fruit, “Osgood’s Wonder.” He is a widower and takes his twin daughters, Mary and Alice, from the security of his sister’s house in Albany to the countryside close by the town of Oakfield. The continuing stories all focus on the Osgood’s enlarged cabin, painted lemon yellow, which over the centuries is further extended but remains a constant colour throughout the book. The sapling elm he plants grows into an impressive tree, and features throughout the novel. This location is paramount; the natural history of the surroundings of the North Woods permeating the story; there is a lot of nature in this book, the author obviously loves the natural world and he honours it in these pages. This aspect reminded me of the pleasures of reading Delia Owens “Where the Crawdads Sing.”
Mary and Alice inherit the orchard and over the years enhance the reputation of their father’s apple. The family orchard and it’s history is at the heart of the book. The homestead and grounds change hands; to mention but one, a painter separated from his wife, has his own backstory. As do each of the owners who over the years have some family links, so the property is inherited down through generations into the modern era, each adding their own sub-plot to this thematically adventurous but readable novel.
Links through the centuries, like the elm tree and the everchanging countryside and how humanity affects the habitat help the structure of “North Woods”. The seasons, the bliss of lovely summers then severe winters with snow levels restricting mobility. There is so much within this book, the storyline interspersed with “notes” that help link the generational sagas that guide the reader into the next time period. Look out for surprises, Daniel Mason keeps his reader’s attention
