This book is as varied and enchanting as the house it focuses on.
By Daniel Mason ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 19, 2023
Mason’s fourth novel, A Registry of My Passage Upon the Earth, is a captivating exploration of the human, natural, and supernatural. It follows the story of a house, its inhabitants, and the New England forest that surrounds them. The novel begins with a pair of young lovers who escape their Puritan Massachusetts village to seek refuge in the “north woods”. Over the centuries, the cabin built by the lovers is transformed and inhabited by a variety of characters, including Charles Osgood, a British colonist who establishes an apple orchard; Osgood’s twin daughters, Alice and Mary; and Karl Farnsworth, an avid hunter.
The novel also includes “Case Notes on Robert S.”, a psychiatrist’s account of a resident suffering from possible schizophrenia; and “Murder Most Cold”, a dispatch by TRUE CRIME! columnist Jack Dunne. Throughout, Mason’s virtuosic prose explores themes of illicit desire, madness, the occult, and the palimpsest of human history, as well as the inexorable workings of the natural world. The novel is a captivating journey through time and space, and a testament to the power of storytelling.
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Pub Date: Sept. 19, 2023
ISBN: 9780593597033
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2023