Arcadia

Description:

In the fields of western New York State in the 1970s, a few dozen idealists set out to live off the land, founding a commune centered on the grounds of a decaying mansion called Arcadia House. Arcadia follows this romantic utopian dream from its hopeful start through its heyday. Arcadia’s inhabitants include Handy, the charismatic leader; his wife, Astrid, a midwife; Abe, a master carpenter; Hannah, a baker and historian; and Abe and Hannah’s only child, Bit. While Arcadia rises and falls, Bit, too, ages and changes. He falls in love with Helle, Handy’s lovely, troubled daughter. And eventually he must face the world beyond Arcadia.

subjects: Coming of age,  Nineteen sixties,  Fiction,  Communal living,  Large type books,  Hippies,  Homecoming,  Fiction, family life,  Fiction, coming of age,  New york (state), fiction,  New York Times reviewed,  Fiction, family life, general,  Bildungsromans

Places: New York (State)