'Part Stone Diaries, part Lord of the Flies, part something out of a Shakespearean tragedy, Lauren Groff's Arcadia is so uniquely absorbing that you finish it as if waking from a dream. It's not possible to write any better without showing off.' - Richard Russo, author of That Old Cape Magic and Empire Falls 'Richly peopled and ambitious and oh, so lovely, Lauren Groff's Arcadia is one of the most moving and satisfying novels I've read in a long time. A novel of 'the invisible tissue of civilization,' of 'community or freedom,' and of the precious fragility of lives in the balance.' - Kirkus Reviews The effective juxtaposition of past and future and Groff's beautiful prose make this an unforgettable read.' - Publishers Weekly With Arcadia, her first novel since her lauded debut, The Monsters of Templeton, Lauren Groff establishes herself not only as one of the most gifted young fiction writers at work today but also as one of our most accomplished literary artists. If he remains in love with the peaceful agrarian life in Arcadia and deeply attached to its residents, including Handy and Astrid's lithe and deeply troubled daughter Helle, how can Bit become his own man? How does he, a sensitive person, make his way through life and through the world outside of Arcadia where he must eventually live? While Arcadia rises and falls, Bit, too, ages and changes.

What unfolds is an astonishingly beautiful novel about happiness and the impossible dream of perfection.Īrcadia's inhabitants include Handy, a musician and the group's charismatic leader Astrid, a midwife Abe, a master carpenter Hannah, a baker and historian and Abe and Hannah's only child, the book's protagonist, known as Bit, who is born soon after the commune is created.

Arcadia follows this rollicking, tragic dream from its hopeful start through its heyday and beyond. In the fields of western New York State in the 1970s, a few dozen idealists set out to live off the land, founding what would become a commune centered on the grounds of a decaying mansion called Arcadia House.

Arcadia by lauren groff