Country People

What a snarky, delightful romp! Mason says his intention was to write a “serious” novel about Chekhov, but ended up with this: a sharply comic novel about the absurdities of city people packing up their lives and moving to the country. When the Krzelewski-Petrosian family travels from California to Vermont for Kate’s visiting professorship, they’re excited to embark on a year-long adventure—and they have no idea what they’re getting into. The story holds more than a whiff of the absurd, with its small town scandals, conspiracy theories, family dog with a turbocharged sense of smell, and a ski instructor so handsome he’ll scramble your senses. A smartly written, but also silly, escape into the country, plus a serious midlife reckoning. For fans of Mason’s North Woods and Andrew Sean Greer’s Less.