{"id":142,"date":"2026-02-10T02:39:19","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T02:39:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newstephenddev.wpenginepowered.com\/?page_id=142"},"modified":"2026-02-13T02:30:32","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T02:30:32","slug":"north-woods-by-daniel-mason","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.stephen-davenport.com\/?page_id=142","title":{"rendered":"NORTH WOODS, BY DANIEL MASON"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Maybe it is redundant to send a message to friends, recommending a novel that was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, and one of the New York Times Best Books of the Year, but here I go anyway. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ask yourself: Is there a place, a specific spot that means more to you than any other? That dominates your heart, your memory and longing? Is there some part of you that is a stranger in every other place? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Years ago, in a house in the woods we had just emptied into a moving van, my wife turned to me and said, “This is all I ever wanted.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ask anyone of the hundreds of people who once either worked at or attended (or both) a summer camp called Cragged Mountain farm, nestled in the woods of Freedom, New Hampshire if they can turn on the memory of the sights, the sounds, the smells of that particular beloved place, the intensity of being there<\/em>. I guarantee: they’ll says yes.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The novel starts in the 1600’s when a delightfully licentious couple runs from a Puritan town, where having fun is against the rules, into the wilderness. “Fast they ran……..They fled as if it were a child’s game, as if they had made off with plunder. My plunder, he whispered, as he touched her lips.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Naturally, angry guardians of righteousness ( who are probably jealous) give chase, eager to punish. “Lying beneath him in the leaves, in the low hollow of the oak, she arched her neck to watch the belted boots and leather scabbards swinging across the wormy ceiling of the world. So close! she thought, biting his hand to stifle her joy. Entwined, they watched the stalking dogs and met their eyes, saw recognition cross their dog-faces, the conspiring shiver of their tails as they continued on. ” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The couple keep running, living off the land, stealing food, including a live chicken, more for her loyal company than for her eggs, following Indian paths, until on the seventh day, they wake up “in the pine duff,” and he decides they are no longer hunted. “Here,” he says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who wouldn’t love such a journey? Who isn’t just a tad jealous? If you are not, maybe you should check your vital signs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So ends the first section, very brief, just the first taste of this delicious story. It would be a spoiler – and also impossible – to synopsize the long train of events that happy couple started on the place they escaped to, and tell of all the people, and animals and plants who lived there after them , until the present time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daniel Mason’s prose is wonderfully strong; it changes very subtly to match the writing style of each era right up to our time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

North Woods is the product of a major talent. Daniel Mason, the writer, is also Daniel Mason, the physician. How does he manage to do both? Did he write this exceptional, idiosyncratic, compelling story in his spare <\/em>time, after long days healing people? Or the other way around?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No matter. Just read the book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Maybe it is redundant to send a message to friends, recommending a novel that was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, and one of the New York Times Best Books of the Year, but here I go anyway. Ask yourself: Is there a place, a specific spot that means more to you than any other? […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-142","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stephen-davenport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stephen-davenport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stephen-davenport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stephen-davenport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stephen-davenport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=142"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.stephen-davenport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/142\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stephen-davenport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}