The northeast corner of the United States has always had a penchant for artists’ colonies, for at least the last couple hundred years. One of the most notable was one established by Bronson Alcott (Louise May’s father), which lasted until Mrs. Alcott, tired of putting in yeoman’s hours of cleaning and cooking duty whilst her husband and his friends frolicked in the nude through the meadows, put her foot down at last, and packed them all back to Boston.
Arcadia Falls also features a boarding school/artists’ colony, although one more of a feminist nature, and with far more gauzy robes than nudity. Meg Rosenthal, a recent and recently penniless widow, is headed to Arcadia, along with her teenage daughter, to teach at the school. Although she has no teaching experience, she specialized on in folklore, which interests the administrator, Ivy St. Clare, very much. Her master’s was based on the book The Changeling Girl, which not at all coincidentally, was written and illustrated by the two founders of the school, Lily Eberhardt and Vera Beecher.
The school’s opening ceremony, the First Night Bonfire, starts off, however, with a suspicious death, and it’s only the first. Goodman does a great job with the woodsy somewhat mysterious setting and the twisty plot to keep you guessing until the end. In addition, we learn a definition of the word “clove” which does not appear in the dictionary, and the unavoidable truth that this school seriously needs to invest in some quality fencing.
Oooooh, I’ll have to check this out! I love upstate New York and boarding schools and weird communes/colonies/collectives and mysteries!
Between the students and the faculty, this place was, shall we say, intense. Even at another level above ordinary high school which can be crazy enough. As an ex-high school teacher, I could tell you things. 😉
this is RIGHT up my alley. Thanks for the review! (Also- have you read American Bloomsbury? GREAT little non-fic about Bronson and co/ NE Renaissance)
Hope you enjoy it! She has another one I hope to be reading soon, The Lake of Dead Languages.
Oooh, I’ll add American Bloomsbury to my list too. Thanks! I remember studying the Transcendental Movement back in high school, but no one ever told us the good stuff!
LOL they NEVER told us about Thoreau’s mom doing his laundry and bringing his snacks to the wIlDeRnEsS
Seriously, right? Hey the wimmons were just doing what needed to be done.
You know Henry wasn’t taking care of any laundry.
Ohhhh I love Carol Goodman. Her Fairwick Trilogy about a professor falling for a supernatural hunk is set in a sleepy New England town.
*slapping these on my List to Read*
Thank you!