Saturday, February 27, 2021

Euphoria by Lily King



I listened to the unabridged audio version of Euphoria by Lily King and narrated by Simon Vance and Xe Sands.

Listening time for Euphoria by Lily King is 6 hours, 53 minutes.

I found Euphoria by Lily King a bit difficult to get into at first. I think this may have been due to the narration as I found Xe Sands to be a so so narrator and found it difficult to follow her cadence initially at the start of this novel. Simon Vance proved to be an excellent narrator as usual though.

As far as the writing goes for Euphoria, I found it to be excellent. This is the first novel I've read by Lily King and I look forward to reading more of her novels. Euphoria by Lily King is a work of historical fiction set largely in the 1930s. Anthropologist Margaret Mead's life was the inspiration for this work of fiction. I enjoyed the storyline for Euphoria very much, as it contains a love triangle and tragic ending as part of its plot. Of the three main characters, Nell Stone and Andrew Bankson were my favorites; Fen not so much.

Below is the plot summary for Euphoria by Lily King from Audible:
From New England Book Award winner Lily King comes a breathtaking novel about three young anthropologists of the '30s 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.

I enjoyed watching the following video of Lily King discussing her novel, Euphoria.


I am giving Euphoria by Lily King a rating of 4 stars out of 5 stars.

Until my next post, happy reading!

4 comments:

  1. OMG, I loved this book so much. I am looking forward to reading her latest novel, Writers and Lovers.

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    1. I agree with you in that Euphoria was a good read! I also want to read Writers and Lovers as well. In fact, two evenings ago I watched a live author event with Ann Patchett and Lily King in conversation about Lily King's novel, Writers & Lovers. Writers & Lovers has another love triangle in it!! I was also found it fascinating that both authors have a lot in common other than they are both authors.

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  2. Margaret Mead is actually a hero of mine so any book inspired by her life should be interesting, I should think. I am not familiar with the writings of Lily King - never read anything by her - but perhaps I should become familiar.

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    1. This novel is very loosely inspired by Margaret Mead's life.

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