Excerpt from Euphoria by Lily King, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

—paint on face only
—emphasis on lips (dark red) and eyes (black)
—hips emphasized by cinching of waist
—conversation competitive
—the valued thing is the man, not having one, necessarily, but having the ability to attract one

She couldn't stop herself.

'Have you been studying the natives?' Tillie asked her.

'No, she's come from the Twilight Ball at the Floating Palais.' Eva had the heavier Australian accent, the most like Fen's.

'I have,' she said. 'Since July. I mean, the July before this last one.'

'A year and a half up that little tributary somewhere?' Tillie said.

'Good God,' Eva said.

'A year first in the mountains north of here with the Anapa,' Nell said. 'And then another five and a half months with the Mumbanyo up the Yuat. We left early. I didn't like them.'

'Like them?' Eva said. 'I would think keeping your head attached to your neck might be a more reasonable goal.'

'Were they cannibals?'

It was not safe to give them an honest answer. She did not know who their men were. 'No. They fully understand and abide by the new laws.'

'They're not new,' Eva said. 'They were issued four years ago.'

'I think to an ancient tribe it all feels new. But they obey.' And blame all their bad luck on the lack of homicide. 'Do they talk about it?' Tillie said.

She wondered why every white asked about cannibalism. She thought of Fen when he returned from the ten-day hunt, his sad attempt to keep it from her. I tasted it, he finally blurted out. And they're right, it does taste like old pig. It was a joke the Mumbanyo had, that the missionaries had tasted like old pig.

'They speak of it with great longing.'

The two women, even long brazen Eva, shrank a bit. And then Tillie asked, 'Did you read the book about the Solomon Islands?'

'Where all the children were fornicating in the bushes?' 'Eva!'

'I did.' And then, Nell couldn't help herself, 'Did you like it?'

'Oh I don't know,' Tillie said. 'I don't understand what all the fuss is about.'

'Is there fuss?' Nell said. She'd heard nothing about its reception in Australia.

'I'll say.'

She wanted to ask by whom and about what, but one of the men was coming around with an enormous bottle of gin, refilling glasses.

'Your husband said you wouldn't want any,' he said to her apologetically, for he did not have a glass for her. Fen had his back to her but she could see the expression on his face just from the way he was standing with his back arched and his heels slightly lifted. He would be compensating for his wrinkled clothing and his odd profession with a hard masculine glare. He would allow himself a small smile only if he himself had made the joke.

Fortified by several sips, Tillie continued her inquiry.

'And what will you write about these tribes?'

'It's all a jumble in my head still. I never know anything until I get back to my desk in New York.' She was aware of her own impulse to compete, to establish dominance over these clean, pretty women by conjuring up a desk in New York. 'Is that where you're headed now, back to your desk?' Her desk. Her office. The diagonal window that looked out onto Amsterdam and 118th. Distance could feel like a terrible claustrophobia at times. 'No, we're going to Victoria next, to study the Aborigines.'

Tillie pulled a pout. 'You poor thing. You look beat up enough as it is.'

Excerpted from Euphoria by Lily King. Copyright © 2014 by Lily King. Excerpted by permission of Atlantic Monthly Press. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.