Lorna Cook

Lorna Cook asked Lily King:

Lily, 'Euphoria' was my favorite book of the year! I loved the complexity of the characters and how their lives entwined and clashed. I thought the ending was stunning...My question: at what point in the writing did you know how it would end for the three, and who would be left? Thank you. And thank you for such a wonderful, memorable story.

Lily King Hi Lorna—Thanks so much! I'm grateful. I don't want to spoil the ending for people who haven't read it, but I will say that I had a completely different idea for the ending when I thought Nell was our narrator. Once I realized Bankson was telling the story, things began to change. As I said in my last answer, I really had to feel my way through. I didn't always know what would happen until I got there and felt what felt right. It's strange in that way. And as I just said, I really didn't know about the events in the last chapter until after I had handed it in.

More Answered Questions

Narci Drossos

Narci Drossos asked Lily King:

I absolutely immersed myself in Euphoria - although the cover description wouldn't have made me pick it up. I read it for ELLE. I think having read Under the Wide and Starry Sky helped me immediately "get" Euphoria. Do you find any parallels in the novels? What inspired you to write about women who were so far ahead of their time? I can't imagine having boarded a boat back then, destined for islands unknown......

Danielle Bauter

Danielle Bauter asked Lily King:

Hi Lily, I absolutely loved Euphoria-- so much so that I started a book club just so that I would have people to discuss it with. I loved how the book is loosely based on the life of Margaret Mead. What I wanted to ask is if you see yourself doing something like this again in the future-- write a novel about the life of another historical figure?

Ami

Ami asked Lily King:

Through a stroke of luck, I read Euphoria right before reading Elizabeth Gilbert's The Signature of All Things. And when I describe the book to friends I say it's a mixture of that and Ann Patchett's State of Wonder. Did these titles--or any others--inspire you while you were writing or revising?

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