Arcadia: A Modern Tragedy

Arcadia is the entrance to the awe-inspiring and terrifying realm of Dionysus, the Greek god of ecstasy, the Eleusinian Mysteries and Death. Julia, a solitary writer, disenchanted with life, discovers a pagan world on a side-street theatre of London’s West End, a world packed with riddles and oracles ruled by the irresistible sensuality of a living god. A murder and a cryptic telephone call lead her to Daniel, the incarnation of the god Dionysus. Allured by his fascinating and indomitable personality Julia is placed on a stage of mythological magnitude enthused by desire, the power of tragedy and the invigorating impulse of the heroic. To stay in Arcadia Julia will have to face an enticing and ominous truth: Only those who are willing to break free and trespass the forbidden territory of the gods can defeat death.

When a god breaks into our lives and fills us with a desire to penetrate and be penetrated by the Ineffable, life becomes an adventure. In the face of death’s inexorable triumph, the gods offer us a pact of mutual fascination. Only heroes can feel the power of their lucid gaze.

In Arcadia Samantha Devin succeeds in resurrecting myths we thought forgotten. It is a powerful, invigorating novel driven by the energy of philosophical thought. JAVIER SIERRA.

Samantha Devin is the author of Black Bile and Heroica. Her novels have been translated into English and German.