Arcadia in Avernus

Description

Will Lillibridge is mostly known for his western stories, but his story-telling genius was by no means limited to narratives about the harsh life on the prairies. Arcadia in Avernus keeps readers on the edge of their chairs, too, but the topic this time is marriage, love and the sufferings caused by the lack of it.

The short story starts by presenting an unhappy marriage of convenience. Neither of the parties to the loveless marriage is happy and the situation calls for a radical decision taken by the wife. The woman falls in love with another man and the couple decides to elope to Dakota, starting anew on the prairies. Time passes and the couple enjoys their life there, they are very contented and happy, but then all of a sudden the abandoned husband shows up, changing the course of events. The story starts by problematizing marriage and continues with a happy and idyllic relationship the strength of which is put to a test – whether it will prevail or it will break under the pressure is anybody’s guess.

Arcadia in Avernus was published in 1911 in a post-humus collection of stories entitled A Breath of the Prairie. The volume contains 13 masterpieces, most of them taking place on the prairies and all of them related to the Dakota landscape in one way or another. Besides the backdrop, another common feature shared by all Lillibridge’s stories is the style that features the same lightheartedness and humor, always blended with a serious take on life’s important events and a faithful and understanding depiction of feelings. The language Lillibridge uses in his stories is beautiful, a bit old-fashioned at times, but the topics he writes about and the stories he weaves around those topics are always modern, appealing to readers today just as much as they used to appeal to readers in the author’s own times.
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