Inspired by real events in the life of the famous ethnologist Margaret Mead, Lily King vividly and intelligently narrates in this grand, thrilling, and sensual novel the themes of possession and desire, discovery and power, love and dominance. New Guinea, early 1930s. Three young ethnologists - the already famous and captivating American Nell Stone, her husband Fen, and the Brit Andrew Bankson - come together after years of solitary field research and develop a passionate love triangle. Exhausted from their attempts to uncover anything valuable about the tribes along the Sepik River, the three researchers reach the Tam, a female-dominated tribe with unusual rituals. As they delve deeper into the lives of the Tam, their differing desires and interests become increasingly apparent, as does the erotic attraction between Nell Stone and...