Title: Miss Benson’s Beetle
Author: Rachel Joyce
Publisher: Dial Press 2020
Genre: Historical Fiction
Pages: 352
Rating: 4/5 stars
Reading Challenges: 52 Book Club - Alliterative Title
She’s going too far to go it alone.
It is 1950. London is still reeling from World War II, and Margery Benson, a schoolteacher and spinster, is trying to get through life, surviving on scraps. One day, she reaches her breaking point, abandoning her job and small existence to set out on an expedition to the other side of the world in search of her childhood obsession: an insect that may or may not exist—the golden beetle of New Caledonia. When she advertises for an assistant to accompany her, the woman she ends up with is the last person she had in mind. Fun-loving Enid Pretty in her tight-fitting pink suit and pom-pom sandals seems to attract trouble wherever she goes. But together these two British women find themselves drawn into a cross-ocean adventure that exceeds all expectations and delivers something neither of them expected to find: the transformative power of friendship.
I picked this one up on a recommendation from a Lit Society friend. She had said that this was a delightful friendship between two unusual women. I had hoped that this book would be a delightful little gem of a. book and one that I could recommend to a friend. I started reading and was immediately rooting for Margery and her escape from the drudgery of life. As soon as she meets Enid, the story kicks into high gear and it’s one ridiculous episode after another. Enid is a hard character to like, but she is interesting. The book sped along until everything eventually came together. I loved how we get to see these two women find their strength both individually and together. I took a few issues with some of the plot points, but overall I really enjoyed this book.
Next up on the TBR pile:
