‘North Woods’ takes readers to the wilderness

‘North Woods’ takes readers to the wilderness
Penguin Random House

For author Daniel Mason, there is no more perfect fictional character than a mountain lion.

Full of the same intrinsic desires of Captain Ahab or Heathcliff — hunger, lust, curiosity, defensiveness, a drive to kill — the inherited animal instincts of the puma concolor are as exciting to Mason as the interiority of any man. Untamed nature as a psychologically explored character is the central concept behind his 2023 novel, “North Woods,” from Penguin Random House.

Mason was the guest author at The White Hart Inn’s Speaker Series in collaboration with Oblong Books on Thursday, Feb. 1, as he discussed the blend of nature writing and historical fiction that makes up “North Woods” with New York Times art journalist Laura van Straaten to a sold-out crowd. Named one of the best books of the year by the Times, as well as The Washington Post, Time Magazine and The Boston Globe among many other publications, Mason, the 2020 recipient of the Joyce Carol Oates Literary Prize, has dazzled readers with his latest: a chronological account of a plot of land located in western Massachusetts.

Beginning with a pair of star-crossed Puritans gleefully abandoning their settlement in what Mason described as “an anti-Scarlet Letter” reversal of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Massachusetts Bay Colony romance, the story continues not as a generational saga but as a detailed time-lapse of the land the lovers build their home upon. Spanning multiple centuries, the story of “North Woods” was inspired by “the incredible diversity of animal life and the sheer number of species” in New England and is told through a combination of prose, letters, songs, journal entries and fragments of historical illustrations.

It should come as no surprise that the intimate diaries of writers like American naturalist and transcendental philosopher Henry David Thoreau served as a muse and a way for Mason to mentally walk through the woods of yesterday. “Something that I love reading is the un-bowdlerized writer’s notebooks,” Mason said. “Because usually what happens is a famous writer dies and somebody, usually a spouse or a child, will then publish an edited version of the notebooks, which is all the good stuff — all the great diary mentions of the famous people the writer encounters, which is interesting, but what’s much more interesting is seeing all the messy stuff. The day-to-day entries include a lot of the natural world and interactions with it: agriculture, farms and horses. Thoreau has these incredible images of traveling all over Massachusetts, walking through the town of North Adams, coming through the woods, walking out in front of a factory, and seeing the women working in the factory looking out the window at him. Then he goes through Williams College, up Mount Greylock, and walks all over this similar territory to [‘North Woods’].”

Latest News

Back to school
Photo by Leila Hawken

AMENIA — The first day of school on Thursday, Sept. 4, at Webutuck Elementary School went smoothly, with teachers enthusiastically greeting the eager young students disembarking from buses. Excitement was measurable, with only a few tears from parents, but school began anyway.


Keep ReadingShow less
Millerton’s Demitasse shutters Main Street storefront, goes digital

Demitasse owner Hayden McIntosh Geer said she is excited by the shift to online sales.

Photo by Hayden McIntosh Geer

MILLERTON — Some might have argued that launching an in-person retail business during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic wasn’t advisable. But against all odds, Demitasse in Millerton managed not only to build a thriving, mission-based brand in a small storefront on Main Street, it developed a loyal customer base and provided a welcoming space for visitors. Last week, Demitasse announced it is closing-up shop and moving fully online.

“We are excited,” said owner Hayden McIntosh Geer, who opened Demitasse with her husband, Richard, in 2020. “Though we will miss our customers and the camaraderie on Main Street, it feels right and there was no second guessing.”

Keep ReadingShow less
New Millerton police cruisers arrive to replace fire-ravaged vehicles

Millerton Police Chief Joseph Olenik shows off the new gear. Brand new police cruisers arrived last week.

Photo by Aly Morrissey

MILLERTON — The Millerton Police Department has received two new patrol cars to replace vehicles destroyed in the February 2025 fire at the Village Water and Highway Department.

The new Ford Interceptors are custom-built for law enforcement. “They’re more rugged than a Ford Explorer,” said Millerton Police Chief Joseph Olenik, noting the all-wheel drive, heavy-duty suspension and larger tires and engine. “They call it the ‘Police Package.’”

Keep ReadingShow less
Fashion Feeds on track to raise $100,000 for Food of Life Food Pantry

Erin Rollins of Millbrook in the Fashion Feed booth, open year round, at the Millbrook Antiques Mall. All proceeds from Fashion Feeds go to the Food of Life Pantry.

Photo by Aly Morrissey

MILLBROOK – In a time when optimism and unity can feel elusive, sometimes a walk down Franklin Avenue is enough to feed the soul. With Millbrook Community Day just around the corner, one highlight will be Fashion Feeds, a community effort led by Millbrook native Erin Rollins, whose mission is to fight local hunger.

The concept is simple. People donate new or gently used designer fashion, which is sold at affordable prices, and all proceeds benefit The Food of Life/Comida de Vida Pantry at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Amenia.

Keep ReadingShow less