North Woods

North Woods: A Novel by Daniel Mason

This novel consists of a number of stories related to a certain place in New England. The area existed first as native occupation. The house served as a functional apple orchard for time. Later, there were many attempts to use it for modern purposes, like a hotel or events venue. The problem the more modern approaches entailed was that it was haunted. When people died in the area, they tended to stay and "haunt" the place. In the novel, the border between "living" and "ghost" is ambiguous. People will die, but just continue on with their activities. There were two sisters that ran an apple orchard. One decided to cut the trees after they were used for cider. The other would not have it. Did she kill her sister? Was there a murder or did one die of natural causes. Eventually, they both were in the cellar. Did they go there as ghosts or actually as the living? These women would end up haunting future inhabitants. A fugitive slave hunter would freak out when discovering them. There was later a mother and her son with mental illness and a potential murderer. An artist later tried to live there as well as entrepreneurs. A true crime expert and an amature historian also stop by. Finally a diabetic academic has an accident in the area. She gets a ride and discovers that she is no longer in the living. This helps us discover how things really are. The book is narrated by a variety of voices - with a different one for each section. There are bits of poetry interspersed with the tales. It gives an interesting view of "place" over time.