Arcadia, My Arcadia

Author: Nicholas D. Kokonis
When Published: 2004
Publisher: St. Basil's Publishers, Deerfield, IL
ISBN 0-9754032-0-6
Available: http://www.myarcadiabook.com
Description:
Set on the rich countryside of legendary Arcadia, this is the personal odyssey of a country boy, Angelos Vlahos, motivated to escape the dusty poverty of his nameless village. Obviously, the prime villains of this authentic story are poverty and class struggle. Its conflicts and resolutions have further to do with the obstacles presented by a savage Civil War and a poorly run educational system. But Angelos Vlahos was not born to fear; it is not in his Arcadian genes to measure the height, depth or width of obstacles. The survival courage of his peasant ancestors will be the equalizer against the rich and the high-born, against the smarter and the stronger. Courage will keep his soul higher and even higher. Atlas carried the world; Angelos must carry his whole family across the Egypt of their misery to the new Promised Land.