I really loved this story about three anthropologist studying tribes in 1930s New Guinea. Based on the life of Margaret Mead, one of the first female leading anthropologist in the field, Lily King has managed to write a gripping piece of historical fiction.
Lily King adresses a lot of issues in this book. One theme of the book is the question, if it is possible to obtain untainted data as an anthropologist or does the person "being there" amongst the tribe influence the data their obtaining. Another theme is a womans role in this kind of field and how other (male) anthropologists perceive them. And then there is the question, how much the tribal life gets changed due to western influences.
Euphoria is beautifully written with great characters. I felt heartbroken, sad and angry in varying degrees throughout this book and the character of Andrew Bankson, who is the main narrator of the story, has been my favorite character of the all. I absolutely loved him.
And just as a heads up: there is a lovetriangle in this story, but fortunately it´s not an angsty one and King managed this very well. I´m not a big fan of lovetriangles and it kept me from giving this book a five star rating.
I´ve read this book for the "Electric Company" square, the three anthropologist working in a field of science.
Page count: 261 pages
Money earned: $3.00
9
0
