It is 1971, and Charles was leaving home to join a hippie commune in rural Virginia. Boyle (2003) and “Arcadia” (2012) by Lauren Groff set in hippie communes had no gay characters, only free-love for straights. ’s parents arrive to visit his back-to-the-land commune North Mountain bearing gifts like the orange powder Tang and Frosted Flakes, he “maintained” as the saying went. was known as the only gay at North Mountain. North Mountain required the hippies work one week a month in Richmond to earn cash for the commune.