ZLAC Book Club — August 26, 2025
For Members and Their Guests
North Woods
by Daniel Mason
Meeting location is the clubhouse. You may bring your own dinner or snack. BYOB.
Book description from GoodReads.com:
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 daring, moving tale of memory and fate from the Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of The Piano Tuner and The Winter Soldier.
When a pair of young lovers abscond from a Puritan colony, little do they know that their humble cabin in the woods will become home to an extraordinary succession of inhabitants. An English soldier, destined for glory, abandons the battlefields of the New World to devote himself to apples. A pair of spinster twins survive war and famine, only to succumb to envy and desire. A crime reporter unearths a mass grave, but finds the ancient trees refuse to give up their secrets. A lovelorn painter, a conman, a stalking panther, a lusty beetle; as each one confronts the mysteries of the north woods, they come to realize that the dark, raucous, beautiful past is very much alive.
Traversing cycles of history, nature, and even literature, North Woods shows the myriad, magical ways in which we’re connected to our environment and to one another, across time, language and space. Written along with the seasons and divided into the twelve months of the year, it is an unforgettable novel about secrets and fates that asks the timeless question, “How do we live on, even after we’re gone?”
You don’t have to read the book to attend!
If you're looking to support small businesses, consider shopping locally with Mysterious Galaxy Books, Warwicks Books, La Playa Books, and Bluestocking Books. Most have free or discounted shipping, and in some cases free local delivery. Purchases from Bookshop.org also support small bookstores. This book is also available at the library!
The book club includes a rating system!
We think it’s fun to know what our ZLAC community thinks of a book! The system is from 1 to 5, with 2.5 being that you would recommend the book with some hesitation. Anything between 2.5 to 5 is how much you liked it. And anything below 2.5 is how much you hated it.
Don't be shy, all views and opinions are welcome! We will collect the scores and average them, then post the ZLAC score in the following month's Eight Oars newsletter.
Can't make the in-person meeting? No problem! Email your score to: carolynw.ca@gmail.com, and you will be included in the scoring.