Euphoria (Picador) by Lily King

Euphoria is inspired by events in the life of American anthropologist Margaret Mead, an acclaimed scholar and writer who lived and studied on PNG’s Sepik River for two years in the 1930s.

The central characters of this work of fiction are three anthropologists, who become part of a love triangle that threatens their careers and ultimately their lives.

Englishman Andrew Bankson has been alone in the field for several years, studying the Kiona River tribe in New Guinea. Afflicted by the memory of his brothers’ deaths and increasingly frustrated and isolated by his research, the suicidal Bankson encounters controversial Nell Stone and her Australian husband.

When Bankson finds the couple a new tribe to study, he diverts them from their plans to leave New Guinea. He also ignites a threeway intellectual and romantic conflagration. Lily King’s award-winning debut novel

The Pleasing Hour was a New York Times Notable Book. Her third, Father of the Rain (2010), was a New York Times Editors’ Choice.

Euphoria, a story of passion, possession, exploration and sacrifice is her fourth novel.