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\nPulitzer Prize finalist Daniel Mason will publish a new novel next yearPEOPLE has an exclusive first look at the cover of the author’s latest book, Country HouseMason is the acclaimed author of novels and short story collections, including North Woods<\/p>\n
In Daniel Mason’s acclaimed novel North Woods<\/a>, readers were transported to the memorable, fictional village of Oakfield, Mass. With his latest book, the author is returning to New England once again.<\/p>\n PEOPLE can exclusively reveal the cover of the Pulitzer Prize finalist\u2019s forthcoming novel, Country People, due out next year from Random House.<\/p>\n Set over the border from Oakfield, in the college town of Greensbury, Vt., Country People follows a family after their move from California to the East Coast for a year. There\u2019s Miles, a scholar of Russian folktales who can\u2019t focus on his dissertation; his wife Kate, an English professor grappling with an illness; their two children, Olive and Wesley; and their dog Giuseppe.\n<\/p>\n The cover of ‘Country People’ by Daniel Mason.<\/p>\n Random House Publishing Group<\/p>\n Throughout their time in Greensbury, the family must navigate a variety of events \u2014 from new teaching jobs and memorable neighbors to a curious town legend, which may be more fact than fiction, per the book’s official synopsis.\n<\/p>\n Random House describes the book as a \u201cjoyous, absurd, gorgeously-drawn exploration of marriage, family, friendship, storytelling and how people find connection in an increasingly fragmented world.”<\/p>\n For Mason, it felt like second nature to delve into familiar topics in his latest book.\n<\/p>\n The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!<\/a><\/p>\n “Almost all of my books and stories have been historical, but for some reason, when I began writing again after North Woods, I found myself returning repeatedly to our current moment,” the author explains to PEOPLE. “As a psychiatrist, I spend much of my time thinking about why people believe things that aren\u2019t true, and yet the books I love most are often those that are the most fanciful, the most imaginative.”\n<\/p>\n Daniel Mason.<\/p>\n Sara Houghteling<\/p>\n “Country People began as a way to explore this beguiling and often dangerous borderland of fantasy and falsehood,\u201d Mason continues. \u201cAnd while along the way it was hard to resist the joys of some historical indulgence, it was a fun and meaningful and often surprising process to explore ideas I find myself thinking about each day, whether family, community, our relationship with nature, or the essential role of play and humor in our lives.\u201d\n<\/p>\n Mason is the author of books including The Piano Tuner<\/a>, A Registry of My Passage Upon the Earth<\/a> and The Winter Soldier<\/a>. A recipient of accolades like the Guggenheim Fellowship and a Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, he is also a physician and associate professor in Stanford University’s Department of Psychiatry.\n<\/p>\n