Arcadia: A Modern Tragedy

By Samantha Devin

"Arcadia tells the story of a modern consciousness being drawn into the force of the Dionysian".

In a hidden London, a solitary writer encounters a world where the ancient mysteries of Dionysus still endure. In a secret theatre in the West End, she meets Daniel - a fascinating and unsettling figure whose presence dissolves the boundaries between the self and the divine, between desire and the loss of identity.

What begins as physical attraction turns into a religious experience: Julia discovers a sacred dimension of existence that renders everything she had previously called life insufficient. As her consciousness opens to the intensity of experiences that break through the boundaries of ordinary existence, the everyday world becomes fragile and insipid.

Arcadia, a contemporary version of The Bacchae by Euripides, is a tragedy about ecstasy, desire, and the price of looking directly at the sacred. The novel raises a disturbing question: how can one go on living in a world devoid of mystery after having tasted the heroic fullness of being?
Arcadia does not pose easy questions. It is a work shaped by the forbidden, by transformation, and by the radical displacement of consciousness after passing through the sacred.

(Author's note: This novel, inspired by tragedy and myth, approaches sacred eroticism as a symbolic dimension of the Dionysian experience.

Opinions on Arcadia, A Modern Tragedy
"It gripped me from the first page; Arcadia is deeply entertaining, yet it has the substantial depth lacking in much modern fiction." - Colin F. Stanley

"In Arcadia, Samantha Devin brings back myths we thought long forgotten. A powerful, invigorating novel brimming with philosophical energy." - Javier Sierra

Samantha Devin is the acclaimed author of Bilis Negra (Black Bile) and Heroica. Her work, published internationally, blends literary fiction with contemporary metaphysics.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 191320913X
• ISBN13: 9781913209131
• Release Date: July 2020
• Publisher: Aristeia Press
• Length: 328 Pages
• Weight: 1.06 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 9.0"