![]() The effective juxtaposition of past and future and Groff’s (Delicate Edible Birds) beautiful prose make this an unforgettable read. Split between utopia and its aftermath, the book’s second half tracks the ways in which Bit, now an adult (he’s 50 when this all ends, in 2018), has been shaped by Arcadia a career in photography was the perfect choice for a man who “watches life from a good distance.” Bit’s painful experiences as a husband, father, and son grow more harrowing as humanity becomes increasingly imperiled. The small, sensitive child whose purposeful lack of speech is sometimes mistaken for slowness finds comfort in Grimms’ fairy tales and is lost in the outside world once Arcadia’s increasingly entitled spiritual leader falls from grace and the community crumbles. Bit’s vibrant mother retreats into herself each winter caring for the community literally breaks his father’s back. ![]() ![]() Despite their idealistic goals, the family’s attempts at sustainability bring hunger, cold, illness, and injury. With Arcadia, Groff has crafted a fresh novel out of an old literary theme - you cant go home again - by focusing on a protagonist who never stops trying to do so.'-Dallas Morning News ''-People 'Lauren Groffs second novel, Arcadia, is so tenderly moving it actually swells the heart. ![]() ![]() Groff’s dark, lyrical examination of life on a commune follows Bit, aka Little Bit, aka Ridley Sorrel Stone, born in the late ’60s in a spot that will become Arcadia, a utopian community his parents help to form. ![]()
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