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Popular Fiction Book Discussion

"North Woods" by Daniel Mason

This month's popular fiction title is "North Woods" by Daniel Mason. This in-person book discussion will be moderated by Bridgewater librarian Yvonne Selander.

New book discussion participants are always welcome.

New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice - A sweeping novel about a single house in the woods of New England, told through the lives of those who inhabit it across the centuries--"a time-spanning, genre-blurring work of storytelling magic" (The Washington Post) from the Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of "The Piano Tuner" and "The Winter Soldier."

When two young lovers abscond from a Puritan colony, little do they know that their humble cabin in the woods will become the home of an extraordinary succession of human and nonhuman characters alike. An English soldier, destined for glory, abandons the battlefields of the New World to devote himself to growing apples. A pair of spinster twins navigate war and famine, envy and desire. A crime reporter unearths an ancient mass grave--only to discover that the earth refuse to give up their secrets. A lovelorn painter, a sinister con man, a stalking panther, a lusty beetle: As the inhabitants confront the wonder and mystery around them, they begin to realize that the dark, raucous, beautiful past is very much alive. 

This magisterial and highly inventive novel from Pulitzer Prize finalist Daniel Mason brims with love and madness, humor and hope. Following the cycles of history, nature, and even language, North Woods shows the myriad, magical ways in which we're connected to our environment, to history, and to one another. It is not just an unforgettable novel about secrets and destinies, but a way of looking at the world that asks the timeless question: How do we live on, even after we're gone?

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