Country People

by Daniel Mason

A rollicking work of lyricism and humor, about one family’s tumble into the unknown, from the Pulitzer Prize finalist and bestselling author of North Woods

Miles Krzelewski is a devoted husband, a doting father beloved for his outlandish bedtime stories, and the proud owner of a truffle-hunting dog in a land with no truffles. He is also a bit lost, twelve years late with his PhD on Russian folktales, and increasingly haunted by a sense that he's become a disappointment to his family. So when his wife Kate accepts a visiting professorship at a prestigious college in the far away forests of Vermont, he decides that this will be his year to finally move forward with his life.

But Miles is a man of many enthusiasms, one who possesses, in Kate’s words, “a great capacity to fall in with anyone, anywhere.” And no sooner does he arrive than he finds himself entangled with a cast of characters as colorful as any of his folktales, from a ghostly tree surgeon to a scythe-mad biochemist, a Shakespearean temptress and a photographer of snowflakes obsessed with chronicling, on thousands of index cards, the world’s delusions in a “Inventory of Wrong Ideas.”

The new friends, the enchanted woods, the sure, no PhD, but all good fun. Until Miles stumbles upon a bizarre—perhaps ridiculous—local legend, which, he soon suspects, might not be just a legend after all.

Joyous, absurd, and life-affirming, Country People is a luminous exploration of marriage and parenthood, the nature of belief and the power of stories, and the ways in which we find connection in an increasingly fragmented world.

Genres: Fiction, Literary Fiction, Contemporary, Historical Fiction, Humor, Adult, Book Club

336 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication July 14, 2026

About the author

Daniel Mason is a physician and author of The Piano Tuner (2002), A Far Country (2007), The Winter Soldier (2018), A Registry of My Passage Upon the Earth (2020)--a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize-- and North Woods (2023). His work has been translated into 28 languages, awarded a 2021 Guggenheim Fellowship, the Joyce Carol Oates Prize, the California Book Award, the Northern California Book Award, and a Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. The Piano Tuner was produced as an opera by Music Theatre Wales for the Royal Opera House in London, and adapted to the stage by Lifeline Theatre in Chicago. His short stories and essays have appeared in The Atlantic, Harper’s, Zoetrope: All Story, Zyzzyva, Narrative, and Lapham’s Quarterly, and have been awarded a Pushcart Prize, a National Magazine Award and an O. Henry Prize. An assistant professor in the Stanford University Department of Psychiatry, his research and teaching interests include the subjective experience of mental illness and the influence of literature, history, and culture on the practice of medicine.

Reviews

[Marcus (Lit_Laugh_Luv)]

Daniel Mason... save me from a reading slump... you're my only hope

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[Liz Hein · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a funny book, and I don’t always love funny, but what I loved the most here was the narration. We the reader are told things the characters don’t know and the narration does a bit of 4th wall breaking, or whatever the book equivalent of that is. We also get transcripts from a radio call in show that brilliantly captures the essence of someone and some place in just a single interaction. Ya know, when I finished this book I wasn’t sure if I loved it, but the more I think about it in order to share something about it, I’m realizing how much I really did love this.

Miles goes from wondering is it possible to get a ride from someone in this town to worrying about whom he should ask as to not hurt others’ feelings. Mason is brilliantly helping Miles, and us, realize that we don’t need the answer to all of life’s mysteries, but trying alone can be rewarding in unexpected ways. This is lighter and less weird than North Woods, but it offers the reader much to smile about when it could have dipped into eye roll territory. Well done, again, Daniel Mason.

[Emily Hauser · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my. This was wonderful. Mason creates a labyrinthian world, a cast of players connected in so many ways, like tunnels that tangle and weave under the earth.

Miles and Kate, with children in tow, traverse from California to the rural, wild outskirts of Vermont with Kate, a professor of English literature, on assignment at the local University. As Miles drags his feet on his own ambitions he begins to encounter the seemingly simple “country folk,” only to find that these individuals are far more complex and intriguing than he originally assumed. He finds himself entranced with their lifestyles and becomes totally engrossed in a closely held, if not strange, theory of the locals.

Throughout the novel we are introduced to mysterious stories as told through the lense of a rural radio call-in talk show where lighthearted banter, humor and wit abound. Each caller’s story adds drops to the overall bucket of Mason’s world-building and serve as a creative break from the overall narrative, while still holding relevancy (and oh my goodness does it pay off in the end).

In this novel readers feel the push and pull between logic and magical thinking, the known and unknown, and the notion that maybe these ideas don’t exist in binaries after all.

Received as an ARC from NetGalley.

[Annie Tate Cockrum · Rating 4 out of 5]

Started off very strong for me - a family of 5 (mom, dad, son, daughter, dog) move from a Northern California college town to a Southern Vermont college town and a bit of culture shock ensues. Each of our characters is charming and it’s certainly fun (often funny) reading about them finding their way in a new environment. Daniel Mason is a wonderful writer and his descriptions of rural living are great - it often had me reminiscing on my college days in Western Massachusetts. All of that said, the book does drag a bit in the middle, but picks back up by the end. I also think we could’ve gone a bit deeper with each character or honestly just going deeper with our main narrator (the dad) would’ve been enough. Overall I enjoyed it!

You don’t have to have read North Woods to enjoy Country People but Mason drops a couple of fun easter eggs in Country People for those of us who’ve read North Woods.

Thanks to PRH for the advanced copy - such an honor to get to read Country People before its publication this July.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this.

Miles and Kate, two kids, and dog are off to Vermont. Which isn't too far off from that other place in the woods. Kate has just taken a visiting professorship and Miles is working on his PhD in Russian folklore.

That's how we begin. We get a house with a personality. A wide range of neighbors with different backgrounds and stories. An adventurous dog. Kids with their own big personalities. An interesting radio show. And a mystery about a man and his thoughts of the world that is slowly explored by this cast of characters.

This doesn't come out till July 14th ( thank you
@randomhousebooks) but l'm gonna need another book with another neighboring state.

This one is definitely North Woods adjacent.

I kind of devoured this.

People are in for a treat here!

[Liana Gold]

Anticipated literary fiction!

Many thanks to NetGalley, Random House Publisher and the author, Daniel Mason for sending me this eARC.

Publication date: July 7, 2026

[Sophia Eck · Rating 3 out of 5]

Country People is as it is titled: A book about country people, from the perspective of a family of those not wholly familiar with what that entails. A husband and wife, and their two children, move to Vermont for a job opportunity for the wife at a pretentious university, and all four of them build uniquely quaint and quirky relationships to the place and the people.
Daniel Mason, from what I have read in this book and his previous book North Woods, seems to like to do a lot of experimenting with different form and dynamics in his writing, and I find that is where he loses me a little. The book slowly adds in more and more characters, each kookier than the last, each with their own polarizing personalities and strange lore, and it quickly spirals into an exhausting cast of somewhat unfulfilled narratives, leaving the reader feeling about as uninspired with the book as Miles, our main character, is with his thesis. Maybe I am just too anti-social for this much dispersion of character work, and too tired to care about the things a mediocre husband and father makes up in his free time, free time that in this novel he has too much of. I do think a lot of people will still love this though, it gives off strong potential for a non-polarizing bestseller pick.

[Tony]

omg

[Julie Stielstra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Something different for Daniel Mason: a comedy. Miles and Kate, a pair of college professors, uproot themselves and their two kids, Wesley and Olive, from a southern California college town (which sounds rather like Stanford, where Mason teaches) to southern Vermont, where Kate has been invited to fill a visiting professorship at a small college. From the sun-dried atmosphere of west coast academia, they drive slowly across the middle west, where Olive uses up all the brown crayons she has, until she cracks open the all the green ones when they reach New England. There they settle into a tight, cozy little college community among "country people." Miles, who is twelve years into allegedly writing a dissertation on Russian peasant folklore, pretends he is going to finally finish it, and hopes that he will gain insights from the local Vermonters, as he has never met an actual "peasant." His wife slots right into the academic clique, and the kids quickly find their niches with art class, skiing, and gaming. Miles is left to putter and ferry the kids, deal with a rodent infestation and a highly enthusiastic truffle dog.

Culture conflict is a story staple, and it gets plenty of play here. As someone who heaved a huge sigh of relief to leave Chicago in the rear view mirror and settle into the geometric center of Kansas, I get it. The native Vermonters initially present as rubes, eccentrics, men who stand around discussing their lawn tractors, and Miles has no idea how to talk to them. Fortunately, Mason can poke as much fun at Miles and Kate as he does at the "country people." It is also clear that the academic environment is largely the same, no matter which coast you're on, or near. For example, Kate's class on Milton (on whom she is an expert) attracts three students; dozens opt for her class in memoir, but most drop out when they discover that they will not be writing about themselves but studying classical examples from the seventeenth century. Then Miles literally stumbles into a meeting of enthusiasts believing in a local legend of an alternative underground universe, promulgated by a nineteenth century resident. They are gently cheerful, pleasant people, with some real loons among them. But somehow they become Miles's community, which he is embarrassed to admit to his wife. This part of the novel goes a little silly, and long. Mason sets up some likable characters, his wit is crisp and not mean, and it's been a wryly amusing read which made me smile if not laugh. Then it seems to wane into the faintly ridiculous, proceeds into a drama of a lost child, and then just trails off into two odd epilogues.

Mason is a wonderful writer. This is a pleasantly enjoyable story that wanders off in the final third. But he is capable of so much more, and doesn't use it to his best ability here.

[Karenmeg1 · Rating 4 out of 5]

A family of four travel from the comfort of liberal California to the country, Vermont when Kate, the mom, takes the opportunity to be the visiting English professor at a renowned college. Miles, the dad, is still working on his PhD on Russian folktales – it’s taken about a dozen years, he’s still struggling to finish it. With the advent of a couple of kids, he’s willingly taken on the bigger caregiver role, taking a back seat while Kate moves forward with her academic career. Their kids Olive and Wesley, and their dog Guiseppe round out the crew. So maybe this year in the country, will be the perfect time for Miles to finish up his thesis and live up to his potential to make his family (ie. his parents) and wife proud.

While Kate gets settled into work, Miles continues his stay-at-home Dad duties, including school drop offs, running errands, and exploring with his trusty Guiseppe at his side (the author had me at Guiseppe – gotta love a dog with that name!). But rather than focus on his writing, something always gets in his way and there are distractions galore, as he gets to know the neighbourhood, town, countryside, meeting the most interesting folks. Kate encourages him to get out, she knows her husband well enough to know he needs the social interaction. Miles also gets involved with the school, the parents, who are very different than their California equivalents, and even gets invited to secret meetings with locals who are in search of evidence of local legend.

I can’t do any of the characters justice, each one of them is so different and unexpected, and I often laughed out loud reading what was going through Miles’ mind as he made his own judgements and measured people up. It is so often hilarious, and yet very realistic in the day to day – having spent some of my own time as a stay-at-home parent, with my identity quite tied to work/career, I found the perspective of Miles’ Dad experience very refreshing. Also, the very clever use of the radio phone-in shows dialogue– so true to life, when you’re in and out of the car!

And finally, the way the marriage was portrayed, with basic insecurities even after a couple has been together for a very long time. The author weaves in some serious bits about health, scares with the kids, what love and dedication mean, but not in a dramatic way, just very realistically, as life is like that.

This was a solid 4 for me (I would have given 4.5 stars but not quite a 5 because some of the pacing I found a little slow.)

Thanks to the author, Random House and Netgalley for the advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review. Planned publication date is July 2026.

[Kelsey Clair · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars. Thank you Random House and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an eARC of this novel. This is one of my most highly anticipated 2026 releases and it did not disappoint! It was the perfect first book for 2026, I hope it is setting a precedent rather than going downhill from here. Country People is about a family, Miles and his wife Kate and their children Wesley and Olive. Kate is an English professor and is offered a one-year professorship at a university in southern Vermont so the whole family moves across country. Miles has been working on his phd dissertation on Russian folktales for 12 years and thinks this might finally be the opportunity to finish. The story follows the adventures and misadventures of the family over the course of the year and the cast of characters they encounter is just fantastic. I am blown away by how real and relatable Mason is able to make the characters feel, their flaws and idiosyncrasies making them all the more lovable. The prose Mason uses throughout is fantastic as well, I'm not usually a book tab-ber but I highlighted many passages throughout. He manages to make this story very heartwarming without being saccharine and wholesomely hilarious without being corny, I laughed out loud probably every other page. I can't imagine that anyone who picks up this book won't end up enjoying it, and I can't wait to have a physical copy for my shelf!

[Kasa Cotugno · Rating 5 out of 5]

A family of four find themselves across the country in a different world when Kate, the mother, accepts a one year professorship at a college in Vermont. Miles, the Dad, swears he's going to complete his dissertation on Russian folklore, and the kids go along. Included is Giuseppe, named such due to the fact that he is of an Italian breed, a Lagotto Romagnolo, and it actually seems more consideration and leeway is granted to him than any other one member of the family. That he proves his worth makes for hilarious reading. In fact, the entire book is laugh out loud funny, a departure for Mason, who has written some of my favorite books. For that matter, he's not the only doctor at Stanford Medical who writes superbly. Is it something in the water in Palo Alto?

[Andrea C · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kate receives a job offer from a college in Vermont, and so the whole family, plus dog, is off from California across country. Mason spins quite a tale with the cast of characters the whole family encounters in Vermont. The husband, Miles, has been working on his ever changing thesis for years, and wife Kate secretly believes this new landscape will inspire him to finish.

There isn’t really action or major events that carry the story, rather the many characters and their personalities that bring the story to its magic and funky conclusion. Fans of his recent North Woods will certainly enjoy this one—thanks to the publisher for the ARC!

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Miles is a Ph.D. candidate who has never finished his dissertation. When his wife Kate is recruited for a job at a university in Vermont they decide to leave their life in California and embark on a new adventure with their two kids and dog. Much of the book is just them learning how to live in their new environs and meeting the people who live in the town. There is a bit of a twist in the final third of the novel that was not my favorite, but I was okay with how everything wrapped up. It's a beautifully written book.

[Dog&CatMomBooksNicorette&tea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed "Country People" by Author Daniel Mason!!!! I found myself laughing a lot at this family, Miles, his wife Kate and their two children as they move to Vermont. Miles especially is a likable character as we see his struggles to measure up to his wife Kate who is an English professor. I loved every moment of this story. I will be reading again and I highly recommend it!!



Disclaimer: I received an e-copy ARC from the publisher in exchange for my honest review. No positive review was required. All opinions are my own.

[Ellen Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

An easy and enjoyable read about a family’s year in their new state of Vermont! I laughed at so many parts of this book but also found the characters relatable especially with their struggles whether big or small. The setting was awesome and I felt like I was right there. Loved the themes of marriage and being a parent and the overall idea of how we as people connect with each other. Definitely a book I’ll read again. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75 stars, rounding up because it's reasonably well executed literary comedy, a rare beast and something we need more of in these times. I got a little weary of Miles's hangups and of the cast of wacky small town characters being wacky, at times - it just didn't feel that innovative or interesting, and I wanted a touch more sincerity to help me connect with the characters and give them more soul. Great descriptions of rural life and its beauties, though. I really want to go skiing right now, or maybe scything.

[Useless Rena]

Should definitely tell my mom about this. Somehow, 'Winter soldier' inexplicably got her caring about lives of fictional people after she told me on more then one occasion that she just can't get into fiction. Also this one's about russian folklore? Exited to find out how Mason will tackle this topic since I myself am Russian. He depicted wartime Austria quite nicely and wartime Burma was uhh.. so-so from what I hear. But interested nonetheless.

[Colleen Hourigan · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was such a gift to have an advanced copy of this book, about a family who loves to a small town in the country, and all the fascinating characters they meet there. It makes sense to me that Daniel Mason is a professor of psychiatry, his understanding of human behaviour and relationships made this book warm and wonderful, and his writing style is so clever and joyful and the whole thing was a pleasure to read!

[TD · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you Netgalley for the arc!

This book was so good and I'm so glad I picked it up. I loved the setting of this book, the fun and unique characters, and how strangely heartwarming this was. I laughed so many times I had to start highlighting my favorite parts. This was such a refreshing, unique read for me and I will definitely be picking up more books from the author.

[Natasha Harper · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book was decent. I wouldn't say it was the best book I have ever read and I wouldn't say it was the worst. it was ok and I liked it. I felt like some of the chapters just kept going and going and going. I also felt like it was kind of all over the place sometimes.

[Jeremiah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy his writing style but I confess I didn’t find this story very compelling. Maybe it’s more of a small-town vibes book whereas I usually look for stories that tie in bigger ideas. I also tend to be wary when it comes to caricatures of the rural experience.

[Venkatesan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hibiobñinojvvkh

[Chloe]

This cover!! Are you kidding me!!

[Bobby]

ARC acquired!! North Woods was one of my top 3 reads last year and the one I was most surprised to enjoy.

Here’s to another similar experience!!

[Meg C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved the writing style and loved the first 70% of the book. Then it was just trying to do too many things at once, then it just ended.

[Janet]

I did not finish this book. It makes no sense to me.

[Desig]

kuv