Books › Euphoria A Novel
Euphoria A Novel
368 pages
A feverish, intoxicating plunge into the messy intersection of intellectual obsession and romantic entanglement in a sweltering jungle.
What it feels like
Reading this novel feels like stepping into a hothouse: it is lush, sweltering, and intensely claustrophobic. The narrative moves with a propulsive, feverish energy, driven not by action but by the dangerous, intoxicating friction between three brilliant, deeply flawed minds. Lily King's prose is a masterclass in precision, balancing the cool, analytical gaze of the anthropologist with the raw, messy heat of human desire. You are pulled into an atmosphere thick with unspoken longing, professional jealousy, and colonial hubris, watching a brilliant intellectual spark ignite into an uncontrollable emotional firestorm. It is a perfect match for readers who love deeply immersive, character-driven stories where the boundaries between work, love, and obsession blur until they vanish entirely, leaving only devastation and awe.
- Mood
- feverish
- claustrophobic
- lush
- intoxicating
- Tone
- intimate
- observant
- sensual
- urgent
- Pace
- propulsive
- Themes
- intellectual obsession · destructive desire · colonial hubris · love versus work · possessiveness
- The writing
- Luminous and razor-sharp, blending the cool detachment of scientific observation with sweltering emotional heat.
- The arc
- Moves from suffocating isolation into a heady, intoxicating intellectual and romantic awakening before spiraling into devastating tragedy.
- Who it's for
- Readers who crave intensely atmospheric, character-driven historical fiction centered on messy, brilliant people undone by their own desires.
Content notes
- suicide
- colonialism
- grief
- violence
About the book
"English anthropologist Andrew Banson 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."--The publisher
Description from Open Library.
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