From New England Book Award winner Lily King comes a breathtaking novel about three young anthropologists of 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 the Kiona river tribe in the territory of New Guinea. Haunted by the memory of his brothers' deaths and increasingly frustrated and isolated by his research, Bankson is on the verge of suicide when a chance encounter with colleagues, the controversial Nell Stone and her wry and mercurial Australian husband, Fen, pulls him back from the brink. Nell and Fen have just fled the bloodthirsty Mumbanyo and, in spite of Nell's poor health, are hungry for a new discovery. When Bankson finds them a new tribe nearby—the artistic, female-dominated Tam—he ignites an intellectual and romantic firestorm between the three of them that burns out of anyone's control.
Set between two World Wars and inspired by events in the life of revolutionary anthropologist Margaret Mead, Euphoria is an enthralling story of passion, possession, exploration, and sacrifice from accomplished author Lily King.
Download and start listening now!
“Adventure and romance, danger and knowledge, desireand desolation: these are a few of my favorite things. And, exquisitelybraided, they form the core of Euphoria…This passionate and thrilling new novel reminds us that all ourmores are fictions, that culture itself is only a story we tell ourselves. Andwhat a harrowing tale Lily King weaves from these threads. I’m left breathless,excited, ready to wander and explore, a little afraid, enamored, enlightened.”
— Bill Roorbach, author of Life among Giants
“Enthralling…In the beauty and cruelty of others, we discover our own.”
— Vogue“A taut, witty, fiercely intelligent tale of competing egos and desires in a landscape of exotic menace—a love triangle in extremis.”
— New York Times Book Review“It’s smart and steamy, and like the best historical fiction, it made me want to read about Mead.”
— USA Today“In a perfect marriage of words and voice, narrators Simon Vance and Xe Sands join author Lily King to produce an extraordinary audiobook experience…Sands and Vance perform the stupendous feat of creating memorable versions of the same characters. Their performances offer nuanced interpretations of the different personalities and…a unique narrative pace that enhances the listener’s understanding of this unforgettable tale. Winner of an AudioFile Earphones Award.”
— AudioFile“Masterful…A thrilling and beautifully composed novel…a riveting and provocative novel, absolutely first rate.”
— Seattle Times“Euphoria is at once romantic, exotic, informative, and entertaining.”
— Reader’s Digest“This audio version, read by Simon Vance and Xe Sands, may well become my favorite audio of 2015…The narrators make this intense, emotionally charged tale of desire and depair, both physical and intellectural, even more vivid.”
— BookPage (audio review)“Stunningly passionate and gorgeously written.”
— Andre Dubus III, New York Times bestselling author“King builds an intense, seductive, sexual, and intellectual tension among the three [anthropogists]: This taut, fraught triangulation is the novel’s driving force.”
— San Francisco Chronicle“Fresh, brilliantly structured, and fully imagined.”
— Andrea Barrett, National Book Award–winning author“A searing and absolutely mesmerizing glimpse into 1930’s New Guinea, a world as savage and fascinating as Conrad’s Heart of Darkness…Jaw-droppingly, heart-stoppingly beautiful.”
— Paula McLain, New York Times bestselling author“I was totally captivated. Euphoria is a great book.”
— Karl Marlantes, New York Times bestselling author“Captures the amber of one man’s exquisite longing for a woman who changed the way we look at ourselves.”
— Washington Post“ It’s both romantic and intelligent…This is the best kind of historical novel—the kind that sent me running to read more about its real-life inspiration.”
— Amazon.com“While the love triangle sections do turn pages, King’s immersive prose takes center stage.”
— Publishers Weekly (starred review)“Inspired by an event in the life of Margaret Mead, this novel tells the story of three young anthropologists in 1930s New Guinea…This three-way relationship is complex and involving, but even more fascinating is the depiction of three anthropologists with three entirely diverse ways of studying another culture.”
— Library Journal (starred review)“King changes the names (and the outcome) in this atmospheric romantic fiction set in New Guinea and clearly based on anthropologist Margaret Mead’s relationship with her second and third husbands…A small gem, disturbing and haunting.”
— Kirkus Reviews (starred review)“Set between the First and Second World Wars, the story is loosely based on events in the life of Margaret Mead. There are fascinating looks into other cultures and how they are studied and the sacrifices and dangers that go along with it. This is a powerful story, at once gritty, sensuous, and captivating.”
— Booklist“I’m always happy to read Lily King, and I particularly enjoyed reading Euphoria.”
— Ann Beattie, author of Chilly Scenes of Winter“Lily King delves into the intellectual flights and passions of three anthropologists—as complex, rivalrous, and brutal as any of the cultures they study. Euphoria is a brilliantly written book.”
— Alice Greenway, Los Angeles Times Award–winning authorLily King is the author of several award-winning novels. Euphoria won the Kirkus Prize and the New England Book Award for Fiction and was named a best book of the year by Time magazine, the New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, and many others. Her debut novel, The Pleasing Hour, won the Barnes & Noble Discover Award and was a New York Times Notable Book and an alternate for the PEN/Hemingway Award. Her second book, The English Teacher, was a Publishers Weekly Top Ten Book of the Year, a Chicago Tribune Best Book of the Year, and the winner of the Maine Fiction Award. Father of the Rain was a New York Times Editors’ Choice, a Publishers Weekly Best Novel of the Year, and winner of the 2010 New England Book Award for Fiction.
Simon Vance (a.k.a. Robert Whitfield) is an award-winning actor and narrator. He has earned more than fifty Earphones Awards and won the prestigious Audie Award for best narration thirteen times. He was named Booklist’s very first Voice of Choice in 2008 and has been named an AudioFile Golden Voice as well as an AudioFile Best Voice of 2009. He has narrated more than eight hundred audiobooks over almost thirty years, beginning when he was a radio newsreader for the BBC in London. He is also an actor who has appeared on both stage and television.
Xe Sands has more than a decade of experience bringing stories to life through narration, performance, and visual art, including recordings of the Nightwalkers series from Jaquelyn Frank. She has received several honors, including AudioFile Earphones Awards and a coveted Audie Award, and she was named Favorite Debut Romance Narrator of 2011 in the Romance Audiobooks poll.