MY MOVIE MONDAY

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 follows this romantic, rollicking, and tragic utopian dream from its hopeful start through its heyday and after. Arcadia’s inhabitants include Handy(Paul Rudd), a musician and the group’s charismatic leader; Astrid(Lauren Graham), a midwife; Abe(Justin Theroux), a master carpenter; Hannah(Kathryn Hahn), a baker and historian; and Abe and Hannah’s only child, the book’s protagonist, Bit(Xavier Samuel ), 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 Astrid’s lithe and deeply troubled daughter, Helle(Emily Browning)—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?

A novel by Lauren Groff. 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.

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