Return to Laughter

This dramatic, revealing novel tells the story of a year with a remote African tribe—a classic of anthropological literature hailed by Margaret Mead as “the first introspective account ever published of what it’s like to be a field worker.”

Simply as a work of ethnographic interest, Return to Laughter provides deep insights into the culture of West Africa—the subtle web of its tribal life and the power of the institution of witchcraft. However, the author’s fictional approach gives the book its lasting appeal. She focuses on the human dimension of anthropology, recounting her personal triumphs and failures and documenting the profound changes she undergoes. As a result, her story becomes at once highly personal and universally recognizable. She has vividly brought to life the classic narrative of an outsider caught up and deeply involved in an utterly alien culture.