Arcadia

Arcadia
Lauren Groff
Hyperion, 2012

Bit Stone is five years old. He and his mother and father live in Arcadia, a commune in New York State, during the turbulent sixties and seventies. The commune was developed to be a utopian society by a charismatic musician. The major concepts of the commune were free love, of course, but shared work and shared resources were also mandated. Bit was special because he was the first of many, many children born at Arcadia. The leader along with the rest of the adults always considered Bit to be representative of the commune’s origins, and so he and his family were part of the inner circle.

Bit’s mother suffered from seasonal depression and spent much of her time in bed until she finally got some medical help. Bit’s father worked very hard restoring an old house that was on the property until he was severely injured. Bit spends his time with the other children in the commune, going to the school and helping with chores as needed. As he and Arcadia grow older, things change. The commune’s leadership becomes divided as they debate issues such as allowing outsiders to join the group, drug use, sexual norms, and financial hardship. Food has always been scarce, but now that so many people have invaded Arcadia, there are more mouths to feed and fewer hands willing to work in the fields or the kitchen.

The story progresses to a future that becomes bleaker than Arcadia’s idealistic leaders could ever have imagined. The adult Bit discovers that his childhood was not what he remembered, and he must struggle to deal with the ghosts that have remained. As a pandemic spreads through the world, the only place that he can find to safely shield his family is the deserted place that used to be Arcadia, which is a shell of its former busy, productive, and sometimes dangerous self.

Arcadia is a mesmerizing and rewarding reading experience. As adults we can see the flaws with Arcadia: the selfishness; the unfair gender roles; the poverty. But Bit only sees the joys: acres of land to roam; many nurturing adults to care for him; children to serve as surrogate siblings. In theory, the communal life would solve many societal problems, but we all know that theories don’t often hold true when confronted with human beings and their many faults. Still, it is fascinating to see Arcadia’s rise and fall through Bit’s eyes, at first innocent and hopeful and then not so much. Like Bit, we really want Arcadia to succeed, and, like Bit, we are somehow so disappointed when it doesn’t.

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Other novels by this author:
The Monsters of Templeton (2008)


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