5 Books Like North Woods by Daniel Mason

The Red Garden, Alice Hoffman

If you are looking for another novel linking characters through generations, The Red Garden is an excellent pick. In this case, it’s the titular garden that ties together the stories.

The characters are connected through the history of one town and its somewhat magical garden, which will grow only red plants. The characters’ lives span three hundred years, each with their own unique and vivid story.

The Vaster Wilds, Lauren Groff

The Vaster Wilds is similar to North Woods for its colonial New England setting and a character who wants to break away.

The novel follows the life of a servant girl from the Jamestown settlement to her life in the wilderness. The story describes her adventures in nature with vivid sensory descriptions. Groff also examines the state of America, the servant’s girl’s place within it, and her spirituality and womanhood, during this time period.

Barkskins, Annie Proulx

This sweeping novel begins in the seventeenth century when two poor Frenchman arrive in North America and start working as Barkskins (wood cutters). From there, their paths diverge, taking them and their families across continents, through heartache and war, building their businesses and families. Through this sweeping tale Proulx examines the difficulties of the trades these families embark on, and the repercussions on the environment and landscape for future generations.

Whereas in North Woods, the house in the woods was the anchor, in Barkskins, it’s the forest itself that provides continuity to the story.

“As he cut, the wildness of the world receded, the vast invisible web of filaments that connected human life to animals, trees to flesh and bones to grass shivered as each tree fell and one by one the web strands snapped.” – Proulx

The Overstory, Richard Powers

In much the same way that tree root systems and their surrounding bacteria and fungi create an interconnected ecosystem, the trees in The Overstory also provide the connective tissue to the snovel. And it’s like North Woods in that in the earlier parts of the book reads like a short story character study. But, like a tree trunk, these strands weave together in the middle part of the book as the characters begin to engage in environmental activism.

In the end, The Overstory is a love letter to trees, and it offers insight into the people who love them and who understand that trees are a precious resource.

“No one sees trees. We see fruit, we see nuts, we see wood, we see shade. We see ornaments or pretty fall foliage. Obstacles blocking the road or wrecking the ski slope. Dark, threatening places that must be cleared. We see branches about to crush our roof. We see a cash crop. But trees – trees are invisible.” -Powers

The Dutch House, Ann Pratchett

This story isn’t doesn’t have a multi-POV, multi-century story line, but it is like North Woods in that the home is the repository for human emotion.

The Dutch House itself is a looming, ornate historic home that anchors a complicated three generation family story. After their father’s death siblings Danny and Maeve were unceremoniously chucked out of the house by their step-mother. They got on with their lives, but they often find themselves sitting in a car in front of the house, reworking old wounds and trying to figure out how to move past their childhood pain.

The book’s themes feature abandonment, betrayal, damaging silences, revenge and a lot of sibling loyalty.

Read this on for book club and use our Dutch House discussion guide.