Daniel Mason

Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction 2021Discover this breathtaking collection of short stories from the bestselling author of North Woods, Daniel Mason. On a fated flight, a balloonist makes a discovery that changes her life forever. A telegraph operator finds an unexpected companion in the middle of the Amazon. A doctor is beset by seizures, in which he is possessed by a second, perhaps better, version of himself. And in Regency London, a bare-knuckle fighter prepares to face his most fearsome opponent, while a young mother seeks a miraculous cure for her ailing son. Funny, irreverent and always moving, these stories range from the depths of the Nile to the highest reaches of the atmosphere, from volcano-wracked islands to an asylum on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro . . .'The grand pleasures of fiction are all here' – The Guardian'The talent of Daniel Mason - using words in this way is witchcraft, surely' – Elizabeth Macneal, bestselling author of The Doll Factory'One of the finest prose stylists in American fiction' – The New York Times

From the bestselling, award-winning author of The Winter Soldier and The Piano Tuner, a collection of interlaced tales of men and women as they face the mysteries and magic of the world On a fateful flight, a balloonist makes a discovery that changes her life forever. A telegraph operator finds an unexpected companion in the middle of the Amazon. A doctor is beset by seizures, in which he is possessed by a second, perhaps better, version of himself. And in Regency London, a bare-knuckle fighter prepares to face his most fearsome opponent, while a young mother seeks a miraculous cure for her ailing son. At times funny and irreverent, always moving and deeply urgent, these stories---among them a National Magazine Award and a Pushcart Prize winner---cap a fifteen-year project. From the Nile's depths to the highest reaches of the atmosphere, from volcano-racked islands to an asylum on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, these are tales of ecstasy, epiphany, and what the New York Times Magazine called the struggle for survival...hand to hand, word to word, by one of the finest prose stylists in American fiction.

'Part mystery, part war story, part romance, The Winter Soldier is a dream of a novel' - Anthony Doerr, bestselling author of All The Light We Cannot See. Discover this spellbinding story of love and the tragedies of war from the bestselling author of North Woods, Daniel Mason. Vienna, 1914. Lucius is a young, idealistic medical student, whose life takes an unexpected turn with the outbreak of the First World War. Volunteering in the name of heroic battlefield tales, he finds himself in a catastrophic field-hospital, besieged by typhus, and thrust into a grueling learning process from the only remaining nurse. The real test of his resolve comes with the arrival of an enigmatic soldier, his uniform filled with mysterious drawings. He seems beyond rescue, until Lucius makes a fateful decision that will change the course of his life . . .'Held me by the throat from the first lyrical page to the last' – Emma Donoghue, bestselling author of Room'One of the best books I've ever read' – Elizabeth Macneal, bestselling author of The Doll Factory'One of the finest prose stylists in American fiction' – The New York Times

The stunning third novel from the bestselling author of The Piano Tuner and A Far Country. As the First World War devastates Europe, The Winter Soldier is the story of one man thrust, utterly unprepared, into a remote medical outpost in the Carpathian mountains, and the woman that is set to save him.

From the bestselling author of The Piano Tuner, a stunning novel about a young girl's journey through a vast, unnamed country in search of her brother. Fourteen-year-old Isabel was born in a remote village with the gift and curse of "seeing farther." When drought and war grip the backlands, her brother Isaias joins a great exodus to a teeming city in the south. Soon Isabel must follow, forsaking the only home she's ever known, her sole consolation the thought of being with her brother again.

'Mason is a superb storyteller' – The TimesDiscover this richly evocative story of heroism and the bonds of family from the bestselling author of North Woods, Daniel Mason. When they spoke of it in town, they called it simply the city, as if it was the only city in the world . . . Raised in a remote village on the edge of a sugarcane plantation, Isabel was born with the gift and curse of ‘seeing farther’. When drought and war grip their land, her beloved brother Isaias joins a great exodus to a teeming, labyrinthine city in the south. Soon the fourteen-year-old Isabel follows, forsaking the only home she’s ever known, her sole consolation the thought of being with her brother again. But when she arrives, she discovers that Isaias has disappeared. Weeks and then months pass, until one day, armed only with her unshakeable hope, Isabel descends into the chaos of the city to find him . . .'One of the finest prose stylists in American fiction' – The New York Times

A New York Times Notable BookA San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News, and Los Angeles Times Best Book of the Year "A gripping and resonant novel. . . . It immerses the reader in a distant world with startling immediacy and ardor. . . . Riveting." --Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times In 1886 a shy, middle-aged piano tuner named Edgar Drake receives an unusual commission from the British War Office: to travel to the remote jungles of northeast Burma and there repair a rare piano belonging to an eccentric army surgeon who has proven mysteriously indispensable to the imperial design. From this irresistible beginning, The Piano Tuner launches readers into a world of seductive, vibrantly rendered characters, and enmeshes them in an unbreakable spell of storytelling.