Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

$0.00 for first 30 days

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
North Woods cover art

North Woods

By: Daniel Mason
Narrated by: Arthur Morey, Billie Fulford-Brown, George Newbern, Jason Culp, Jayne Entwistle, Kirsten Potter, Mark Bramhall, Mark Deakins, Michael Crouch, Mr Simon Vance
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Listeners also enjoyed...

Late Migrations cover art
A Bird in Winter cover art
Mink River cover art
Blackbird House cover art
A Knot in the Grain cover art
Down Where My Love Lives cover art
New Hampshire cover art
The Prophet's Wife cover art
Flint cover art
From the Corner of His Eye cover art
What the Wind Knows cover art
The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina cover art
One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow cover art
The Lost Bookshop cover art
The Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal cover art
The Seed Keeper cover art

Summary

A sweeping novel about the transformation of a single house in the woods of New England, told through the lives of those who inhabited it across the centuries - a daring, moving tale of memory and fate from the Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of The Piano Tuner.

When a pair of 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 inhuman characters alike. An English soldier, destined for glory, abandons the battlefields of the New World to devote himself to apples. A pair of spinster twins navigate war and famine, envy and desire. A crime reporter unearths a mass grave - only to discover that the ancient trees refuse to give up their secrets. A lovelorn painter, a sinister conman, a stalking panther, a lusty beetle: as each inhabitant confronts the wonder and mystery around them, they begin to realize that the dark, raucous, beautiful past is very much alive.

In his transcendent fourth novel, Pulitzer Prize finalist Daniel Mason delivers a magisterial and highly inventive tale brimming 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 each other. It is not just an unforgettable novel about buried secrets and inevitable fates, but a way of looking at the world.

©2023 Daniel Mason (P)2023 Penguin Random House Audio

Critic reviews

North Woods is a sui generis work of pure brilliance, an epic...with a miniaturist's precision. Daniel Mason has unearthed, in the centuries-spanning history of a single New England home, a universal story of loss and reclamation. This is the best book I've read in ages (Anthony Marra, New York Times bestselling author of Mercury Pictures Presents)

Love Books? You'll Love Audible.

Transform your day

Transform your day

Replace endless scrolling with endless listening. Chores can be fun.

Listen everywhere

Listen everywhere

You can’t turn pages while you drive—but you can press play.

Carry your entire Library

Carry your entire Library

Your stories go where you go. Audiobooks don’t weigh a thing.

Listen and learn

Listen and learn

Discover stories that can change your mind, your well-being, and your life.

Reach your reading goals

Reach your reading goals

Download titles to listen offline, wherever you are in the world.

Find your niche

Find your niche

WIth thousands of titles to explore, there’s something for everyone.

Try for £0.00 £7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

What listeners say about North Woods

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    64
  • 4 Stars
    21
  • 3 Stars
    6
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    2
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    68
  • 4 Stars
    7
  • 3 Stars
    4
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    3
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    54
  • 4 Stars
    19
  • 3 Stars
    4
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    3

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

quite remarkable. the best thing I've listened to in ages.

this book is a marvel and beautifully unique. excellent narration. it will not let you leave until you reach the conclusion.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A really satisfying story

I enjoyed this fascinating book from beginning to end. It is beautifully written and read in this audiobook. A wonderful interweaving of the story of the humans who lived in this place, with all their quirks, and nature which is appreciated by some of them, but sadly, as in real life, not enough of them to prevent it from being harmed.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent

Beautifully written. Compelling and complex characterisation. Totally innovative. Several stories spanning centuries cleverly linked by an apple orchard. A thorough pleasure.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant story

Loved the intricacies of all the stories. One of my favourite ever books. Didn’t want it to end

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

The narration was wonderful a masterpiece

The timeline of the yellow house it’s shifting fortunes even the wildlife that inhabit it.
A book I shall recommend it’ll stay with me

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Environmental history

I got a bit bored with the main narrators voice but if not well read.Superb collection of linked vignettes

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Lyrical prose disguised as fiction

This book is beautifully written and then told wonderfully. I loved hearing of the beauty of the woods and the changes as well as the things that stay the same. Such vividly written stories with such diverse characters. Really worth the read.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Engrossing and moving

I had not expected to enjoy this so much. Phenomenal performances. It didn’t sound like something I’d enjoy - I’m so glad I trusted the reviews!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Something different

Well … what a fantastic story how the threads wove about and yet joined each set of people things who lived in the cabin
It was AMAZING. WONDERFUL. FANTASTIC. I loved it
The people reading each part were spot on . It’s a story I shall return to again

A truly great story. My best story this year. Enjoy

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

outstanding

I just didn't want this to end. It was beautifully written and narrated.
Deserves every accolade

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!