Writing an Enchanted Landscape with Daniel Mason

How does a landscape come alive and even feel enchanted? Bestselling author Daniel Mason explores this question in his novels “Country People” and “North Woods.” Both are steeped in the natural history of New England, from its geology to its native plants and animals. They capture the uncanny feeling of living in a landscape layered with human history — the stone walls, cellar holes, and other remnants of lives long past, hidden in the woods.

In this conversation, Mason talks about the deep history of the land and the folklore of rural Vermont. One plot strand in “Country People” involves a secret society whose members believe the Earth is hollow, with a cave leading to a magical kingdom inside. Mason, who’s also a professor of psychiatry at Stanford, is fascinated by the thin line between imagination and delusion. He believes novelists exist in a state of wonder, and he’s drawn to visionary writers like Dante, Milton, and William Blake. One recurring theme in his fiction is the idea of a “paradise lost.”

This episode begins with a bonus segment: Anne and Steve go metal detecting with their neighbor Sheila on their Vermont land, searching for lost artifacts. And what do they find? A colonial shoe buckle buried in their field!

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00:00:00 Metal Detecting a Colonial Shoe Buckle
00:04:55 Local Legends and Living History
00:11:25 Country People's Hollow Earth
00:20:50 Delusion, Vision and Enchantment
00:30:21 Ghosts, Dogs and Paradise Lost

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• Daniel Mason's Website
• Book: “Country People” 
• Book: “North Woods” 
• Tom Wessels:“Reading the Forested Landscape” 

Wonder Cabinet is hosted by Anne Strainchamps and Steve Paulson. Find out more about the show at https://wondercabinetproductions.com, where you can subscribe to the podcast and our newsletter.