Lily King
Euphoria by Lily King is a fictionalized account inspired by the field work performed in New Guinea by the anthropologist Margaret Mead, her second husband, and the man who was to become her third husband.
The novel opens when Nell Stone (Margaret Mead) and her husband, Fen, have returned from disappointing field work in New Guinea and are about to set sail for Australia. They meet up with an English anthropologist, Andrew Bankson, who has been working in the same general vicinity as they have. Desperately lonely, Bankson convinces the couple to go back to New Guinea with a promise to introduce them to the Tam, a peaceful tribe that has yet to be studied. Their agreement to study the Tam sets into motion a complex relationship between the three anthropologists, one that is fraught with intellectual competitiveness, petty jealousies, sexual rivalries, as well as some measure of academic cooperation and inspiration.
Abusive, selfish, and secretive, Fen is envious of and resentful of his wife’s academic success. He diminishes her proclivity for extensive record-keeping, preferring to immerse himself in the culture as a lived experience. Bankson is more in tune with Nell’s work habits and is inspired by her. He falls in love with her and she with him. Meanwhile, Fen sets off without warning to abscond with a sacred object from a neighboring tribe—one that he thinks will shower him with riches and establish him as a renowned anthropologist. His quest leads to disastrous consequences. Deviating from Margaret Mead’s actual life, King concludes the love triangle tragically.
King portrays the three anthropologists as distinct characters with different approaches to field work. She interrogates the issue of how much of what an anthropologist observes is an accurate description of the life of a tribe; how much is influenced by the eye of the observer; how much of what the tribe shares is authentic; and how much is intended to dupe the observer. She captures the euphoric feeling that characterizes a breakthrough in understanding in a powerful, exhilarating scene in which the three anthropologists cooperate to design a grid that combines the disparate pieces of knowledge they have garnered about the different tribes into a cohesive, comprehensive whole.
Although the tribes and villages are fictional, Lily King’s extensive research on the work of Margaret Mead and other anthropologists enables her to depict village life and tribal activities authentically. Just as Nell Stone familiarizes herself with and befriends the village women and children, King immerses the reader in village life and the methodology anthropologists use to tease valuable information about the culture. The novel moves at a brisk pace, is well-written, and compelling.