From the bestselling author of The Monsters of Templeton comes a lyrical and gripping story of a great American dream In the fields of western New York State in the s 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 follows this romantic rollicking and tragic utopian dream from its hopeful start through its heyday and after Arcadias inhabitants include Handy a musician and the groups charismatic leader Astrid a midwife Abe a master carpenter Hannah a baker and historian and Abe and Hannahs only child the books protagonist Bit who is born soon after the commune is created While Arcadia rises and falls Bit too ages and changes If he remains in love with the peaceful agrarian life in Arcadia and deeply attached to its residents--including Handy and Astrids lithe and deeply troubled daughter Helle--how can Bit become his own man How will he make his way through life and the world outside of Arcadia where he must eventually live 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 Praise for ArcadiaquotLauren Groff has taken a quaint easily caricatured community and given it true universalityAnd a book that might have been small dated and insular winds up feeling timeless and vastThe raw beauty of Ms Groffs prose is one of the best things about Arcadia But it is by no means this books only kind of splendorquot--Janet Maslin The New York TimesquotGroffs beautiful prose make this an unforgettable readquot--Publishers Weekly Starred ReviewquotI was constantly torn between wanting to gulp down this book or savor its lines Even the most incidental details vibrate with life Arcadia wends a harrowing path back to a fragile lovely place you can believe inquot --Ron Charles The Washington Postquotquot--PeoplequotA moving look at the value of human connection in a scary chaotic worldquot--Entertainment Weekly quotLauren Groffs dazzling new novel brings the flawed visions of a s commune to life At a moment when so much floating anger struggles for articulation its Groffs essential human empathy that gives her work its urgencyquot--VoguequotOne of our best young novelists brings a lost Eden of hippiedom freshly to life Groffs prismatic prose style lends itself to the darker currents that run beneath the Arcadian dream both poetic and ambitiousquot--Elle quotA beautifully crafted novel it gives full rein to Groffs formidable descriptive powers as she summons both the beauty of striving for perfection and the inevitable devastation of failing so miserably to achieve itquot--STARRED BooklistquotAn astonishing novel both in ambition and achievementquot--STARRED Kirkus ReviewsquotArcadia feels true as do the characters who populate this extraordinary novelquot--Hannah Tinti author of The Good ThiefquotIts not possible to write any better without showing offquot--Richard Russo author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Empire FallsquotGroff is one of our most talented writers and Arcadia one of the most revelatory magical and ambitious novels Ive read in yearsquot--Kate Walbert author of the New York Times bestselling novel A Short History of Women.
