TITLE: Euphoria
AUTHOR: Lily King
GENRE: Historical Fiction
PUBLISHED: June 3, 2014
RATING: ★★★★
PURCHASE LINKS: Amazon.com
MOBILISM LINK: Mobilism
Description: National best-selling and award-winning author Lily King’s new novel is the story of three young, gifted anthropologists in the 1930s caught in a passionate love triangle that threatens their bonds, their careers, and, ultimately, their lives.
English anthropologist Andrew Bankson has been alone in the field for several years, studying a tribe on the Sepik River in the Territory of New Guinea with little success. Increasingly frustrated and isolated by his research, Bankson is on the verge of suicide when he encounters the famous and controversial Nell Stone and her wry, mercurial Australian husband Fen. Bankson is enthralled by the magnetic couple whose eager attentions pull him back from the brink of despair.
Nell and Fen have their own reasons for befriending Bankson. Emotionally and physically raw from studying the bloodthirsty Mumbanyo tribe, the couple is hungry for a new discovery. But when Bankson leads them to the artistic, female-dominated Tam, he ignites an intellectual and emotional firestorm between the three of them that burns out of anyone’s control. Ultimately, their groundbreaking work will make history, but not without sacrifice.
Inspired by events in the life of revolutionary anthropologist Margaret Mead, Euphoria is a captivating story of desire, possession and discovery from one of our finest contemporary novelists.
Review: Previously, I had attempted to read a book by this author, Father of the Rain, and I just couldn't get through it all; although decently written, it was a memoir type novel - full of drunken fathers and decades long family dysfunction in a New England family. I gave up halfway through, I suppose the subject didn't particularly interest me. But anthropology? Yes, please! Several years ago, if you had asked if I were interested in anthropology I would have denied any interest. But last year when I read the controversial novel The People in the Trees (my review) followed by Ann Patchett's excellent State of Wonder - I passionately adored them both, which fueled my interest in the subject. So, I suppose it is no surprise that I was drawn to Lily King's Euphoria. Not only is it an intriguing subject, but it had the appeal of being based on a real life story, it had a good one word title - and possessed an absolutely stunning cover. All my favorite ingredients for a memorable novel.
The mystery of the title, Euphoria, is answered deep inside the pages, and refers to the feeling the researcher achieves once completely immersed in the culture, realizing they simultaneously feel part of things, yet despairing because there is so much left to learn...
"It’s that moment about two months in, when you think you've finally got a handle on the place. Suddenly it feels within your grasp. It’s a delusion – you’ve only been there eight weeks – and it’s followed by the complete despair of ever understanding anything. But at the moment the place feels entirely yours. It’s the briefest, purest euphoria."
Euphoria is evocative historical fiction, set mainly in New Guinea before WWII. King sets the story's tone by saying...
“Anthropology at that time was in transition, moving from the study of men dead and gone to the study of living people, and slowly letting go of the rigid belief that the natural and inevitable culmination of every society is the Western model.”
Euphoria answers the questions of how and why we love, explores the fluidity and differences between women loving men, women loving women, and the love and desire for children. It is a hot-blooded tale about inspiration, rivalry, and desire. We begin when Fen and his wife, Nell (modeled after Margaret Mead), have just come downriver in New Guinea after an unproductive stay with a known tribe. Nell's fame has far eclipsed her husband's, a fact that grates on him. Still, they work well together and seem relatively happy - they even hope to conceive a baby in the near future. The couple come across an English anthropologist named Andrew Bankson. He convinces Nell and Fen to transfer their study to another tribe a few hours away from him by boat, a tribe who practices the reversal of traditional gender roles. At first, they work side by side as friends and colleagues, but disagreements and rifts soon form. Then Bankson and Nell find they are attracted to each other, mirroring the story of Margaret Mead, who left her husband for an English anthropologist. A good portion of the novel is narrated by Bankson...
“I asked her (Nell) if she believed you could ever truly understand another culture. I told her the longer I stayed, the more asinine the attempt seemed, and that what I’d become more interested in is how we believed we could be objective in any way at all, we who each came in with our own personal definitions of kindness, strength, masculinity, femininity, God, civilisation, right and wrong.”
I always know if a book has made a lasting impression on me by the amount of time I spent researching things I read about in the novel. After I finished Euphoria, I spent at least a week intermittently reading about New Guinea tribes and Margaret Mead, her family and her love life. It was interesting enough to spur me to read more about the subjects - and I really enjoyed reading it. Though in my opinion, Euphoria didn't rise to the level of the aforementioned The People in the Trees - the story just wasn't as outrageous, memorable, and juicy. But Euphoria definitely piqued my desire to learn more about Margaret Mead and read some of her work, and in doing so, I actually learned something of the culture of actual tribes in New Guinea.
Overall, Euphoria's plot is steady but intriguing, its writing clean and exemplary. I believe it would appeal to any reader who enjoys historical fiction and/or anthropology. A solid four star novel.
