Euphoria, by Lily King

In the 1930s wunderkind American anthropologist Nell Stone braves the wilds of Papua New Guinea with her less talented Australian husband Fen. They join up with English counterpart Andrew Bankson, who has been alone in the field for too long and needs their company as much as they need his guidance. The behaviour in the developing love triangle is brilliantly compared and contrasted with the anthropological study of the ‘primitive’ cultures the trio is immersed in. Anthropology was a developing science and the three western researchers bring very different perspectives and methodologies to their work. Gentle Bankson’s approach is academic; dominant Fen is almost his opposite in every way; Nell focuses on women and children. They unite their strengths to create great work, but their strengths are also their weaknesses and bring about their downfall. The novel poses the question: are western values, mores and actions so very different or more sophisticated than those they study? The answer seems to be that passion, jealousy, possessiveness and violence, both tribal and domestic, are universal traits; it only how they are viewed and described that is different. Inspired by the early life of Margaret Meade, Lily King’s story is multifaceted and engrossing, beautiful and tragic.