Country People Author: Daniel Mason ISBN-13: 978-1-399-83501-5Publisher: John Murray Press Guideline Price: £20; 314ppWhat to say about a book whose acknowledgments name nine animals, the season of spring, snow and the hospitable attributes of a mountain range? That it’s not a typical read might be evident, which readers already acquainted with Daniel Mason won’t be surprised to hear. If you’re not acquainted, now is your chance.The novel’s hero is a failed academic struggling to complete a PhD thesis. Country People charts a year when his more successful wife accepts a visiting professorship in rural Vermont, and the family moves from gluten-free California to the depths of white-bread New England.There follows a small-town caper fit for a Frank Capra adaptation. But a good one. Over a rewarding, if somewhat rambling 314 pages, Mason explores everything from marital fragility, parenting, misguided ambition, true love and rascally dogs that dig up carpets. Flann O’Brien warning: it has a prolific cast of eccentric individuals.Despite the privileged New England setting and the preponderance of literary and classical allusion throughout, Country People’s hero, Miles, is a likable everyman. He’s constantly seeking his true vocation and manifests an endearing propensity to love people more than he likes academic discourse. He thrills to the magic of the quotidian, which leads him into some excellent adventures, especially with a local secret society of “hollow-earthers” who believe that a shimmering subterranean Elysium flourishes just beneath Vermont’s forests and motorways. In his previous, much-lauded North Woods, the author recounts the history of one townland in western Massachusetts from the mid-17th century to an uncertain distant future. It was deservedly nominated for the Dublin Literary Award in 2025. [ North Woods by Daniel Mason: A frustrating, involving, virtuoso, sentimental, unconvincing novelOpens in new window ]Country People couldn’t be more different in terms of plot or timespan, but it boasts the same talent for depicting people and place in detailed, smart writing that is entertaining and intelligent. Grammar bonus: it‘s a joy to read if you like rich, correct English with all its punctuation intact. Overall, Mason deftly delivers larks aplenty, poignancy, gentle satire and some top-tier farce. Be warned that the latter may cause you to spontaneously erupt with mirth in public places. This book dispels gloom; go for it.Helena Mulkerns is a publisher and freelance reviewer