[BWF and Steeplechase] Euphoria by Lily King 4 stars

[Sue]

Historical fiction based loosely on Margaret Mead's time in Papau New Guinea in the 1930s.

The three main characters are western anthropologists studying primitive tribes in New Guinea. A married couple, Nell and Fen, and a third anthropologist Bankson form an uncomfortable love triangle as they study the culture around them.

I thought the author did a good job of showing both the collaboration and rivalry of the anthropologists at the time. I felt sick at how cavalierly the native communities were treated - almost like they were zoo specimens. And very little regard for how the anthropologist's presence utterly disrupted and changed life for those people.