Euphoria: a slim novel jam-packed with action and feeling
by eapearce
Many of us have heard of the fascinating 2014 Kirkus Prize winning novel Euphoria, by Lily King. The bright cover caught my eye almost a year ago, but I finally found the chance to read it just this past week. King’s novel is told from several perspectives, and tells the story of three young and gifted anthropologists studying the tribes of New Guinea in the early 1930s. Husband and wife team Nell and Fen have just finished studying the violent and superstitious Mumbanyo tribe, and their relationship and sanity are both on thin ice. When they encounter fellow anthropologist Bankson, he leads them to the peaceful, female-dominated Tam tribe to study and recover. However, an ensuing love triangle, and the misdeed’s of Nell’s husband Fen threaten their careers, their friendship, and their lives. This book is both a fascinating portrait of intimate relationships, and an accurate and shocking tale of what some of the first anthropologists encountered when they ventured out into the field.
It’s particularly interesting to note that King based the character of Nell Stone on real events in the life of revolutionary anthropologist Margaret Mead. Mead’s Coming of Age in Samoa is her psychological study of tribal youth, and documents her travels to Samoa at age twenty-three, where she conducted her first fieldwork. It has been compared to Darwin's Origin of Species for its scientific relevance as well as its readability. You can also read Jane Howard’s biography of Margaret Mead, titled Margaret Mead: A Life, to find out even more about the amazing woman that inspired King to write Euphoria.
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