Miss Benson's Beetle by Rachel Joyce is a delightful novel exploring themes of friendship, courage, and self-discovery, as well as the beauty and fragility of nature.

I enjoyed reading this book and would recommend it to anyone who loves a good story.

My thanks to the Publishers via NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a lovely quirky tale of Margery Benson and her need to go looking for a Golden Beetle, a beetle that she'd dreamed of finding at any cost. Meet Enid Petty a most unusual candidate for the position of assistant to Margery on her expedition searching for the elusive insect at the other side of the world, so to speak.

The story was a well written one that reads like a comedy of errors in some ways as what transpires takes them both on one hell of a joinery, I must admit that the results of what was happening to them didn't always have me laughing at all. I enjoyed the interaction between Margery and Enid. My head was wanting things to end well for them both.

To find out what actually happens you need to grab yourself a copy and immerse yourself in their lives and the lives of those around them.

An interesting read that I'm glad to have discovered. I'll definitely be seeking out more by this author.

Love this book Rachel Joyce creates such utterly wonderful quirky characters. The story has both comic and poignant moments, sometimes at the same time.
In Mrs Bensons Beetle’s we meet Marjorie Benson a teacher who decides to pack in her teaching job and head to New Caledonia in search of the fabled Golden Beetle that she had read about in her fathers book. She needs an assistant and picks Enid Pretty who appears to be the polar opposite to Marjorie and the most unsuitable person to accompany her on an expedition. Whilst Marjorie is reticent, Enid is loud and showy with dyed blonde hair; both are misfits and both are looking for something new in their lives. Enid knows nothing about beetles and she doesn’t even have a passport. They head off half way around the world followed by Mundic, a man scarred by his experience as a Japanese POW, who feels he should have been Marjories assistant.
Needless to say there are many mishaps and humorous moments during their travels.
Loved this book, it was a joy from the first page to the last - highly recommended.

Miss Benson finally reaches her limit and decides to put all her resources and hopes into finding a golden beetle in the middle of nowhere. It's the last fond memory she has of herself and her father - learning about the beetle. She recruits an assistant, which leads to an unusual pairing and a relationship that teaches her more about herself and life than she ever expected.

I loved this book. It has echoes of Eleanor Oliphant and The Other Half of Augusta Hope, both of which feature women who learn to love themselves as they are instead of being burdened by the way society expects them to look, behave and live. Miss Benson embarking upon her journey and seeking that particularly elusive beetle, thereby discovering herself, her worth, friendship and true sisterhood - it's also a story of a woman accepting herself.

There is this interesting part of the story where Joyce actually confronts the reader, albeit subtly, with the foursome of roles in regards to being a woman. You have Miss Benson, the worn down spinster. Enid, the loose woman and rule-breaker. Dolly, the subservient woman itching to break free, and Mrs Pope the diplomat's wife - the woman who becomes the foe of other women in an attempt to appease the patriarchal society. Judging other women instead of aiding and understanding, fitting in instead of standing up and being counted.

The quest to find the beetle becomes synonymous with acceptance of self, with a final confrontation with loss and with an acknowledgement of peace. The highest bar set by others takes on a note of irrelevance when the realisation dawns that you, or in this case Miss Benson, should be more interested in what makes you happy.

Joyce is a wonderful storyteller, who has a knack of capturing the absurd, the pain, the honesty and the core of humanity. Life isn't clean - it's dirty and it hurts, but now again we see the joy and feel the peace through the mists of life.

What an uplifting read is ‘Miss Benson’s Beetle’ by Rachel Joyce, an author who never fails to deliver a read that is both thoughtful and chuckle-out-loud. It is a tale of failure, friendship, the spirit of adventure and never-say-die. Above all it is a story of not giving up, never allowing yourself to be defeated.
Margery Benson has never fit in, never married. It is 1950 and she is a teacher at a girls’ school, mocked and ridiculed by pupils, never liked by colleagues. Alone now after the death of her aunts who raised her after the death of her parents, she knows she lacks self-worth but doesn’t know how to change things. The one thing that gives her pleasure is remembering time spent as a child with her father who encouraged her to read. Her favourite book was ‘Incredible Creatures’, an illustrated guide to extinct and ‘never found’ animals. Margery fell in love with a gold beetle suspected to be living on the Pacific island of New Caledonia.
A sequence of events sets the middle-aged Margery on an ocean liner bound for Australia in search of both the beetle and a purpose for her life. After interviewing and rejecting three unsuitable people for the job of her assistant, Margery is resigned to travelling alone. Until she is joined at the last minute by probably the most unsuitable of the three applicants, Enid Pretty. ‘Her hair was a stiff puff with the perky hat pinned on top; about as useful in terms of sun protection as a beer mat on her head.’ Unbeknown to both women, they are being followed by someone else. And unbeknown to Margery, Enid has another reason for wanting to leave the country in a hurry.
I read this at a pace as the women negotiate prejudice, snobbishness, barriers and phobias. Joyce doesn’t spare the at times graphic detail of two unsuitable women on a tropical island facing cyclones, eels, hunger and illness, trekking through the jungle, in search of a beetle that probably doesn’t exist.
A joyful book.
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I loved this. It has drama and adventure but is gentle with characters we truly care about. I'm telling customers that reading this felt like reading Elizabeth is Missing - they are buying it straight away, and everyone loves it. Also people are just buying it just because they love the cover! And I can tell them it's every bit as good as they hope. Thank you for letting me preview it!

This book is so good! I am so glad that I requested it on NetGalley and was approved for the same. It is not at all my regular genre and I needed something different but good for my reading to come back to me. It’s a story of a woman who is just trying her best to live in a post World War Britain of shortage of things and rationing. On top of that, the school she teaches at has girls who find her to be a funny looking teacher. Worthy of being mocked for her appearance. After an incident wherein she finally loses her patience with her students, the teaching body and the school in general, she’s left to pick up the pieces of her temper. In optimism, she decides to go back to her basics. The things she had truly been interested in and for that, she puts out an ad for a companion/assistant for the journey. Margery Benson is going to find the beetle that nobody has been able to.

In all her interviews, she finds that there aren’t really people who are eligible or even interested in this and she ends up with her least favourite candidate. Enid Pretty. She’s not at all what Benson wanted and yet she’s the only one who would stick around. Margery is friendless and awkward, she’s middle aged and very large in comparison to her peers and in a complete opposite direction, Enid Pretty is illiterate, chatty and traditionally very pretty and attractive. She’s not what Margery wanted in an assistant. It’s their journey towards something more that made this whole book. They both have their own reasons as to why they want to leave the country and why it feels like an important journey. The friendship that blooms between them is so good!

Overall, it’s just a story of two women who are trying to find if there’s more in their life, if there could be more. In doing so, they find joy, tests that check their endurance and just life. It’s atmospheric, it’s fun and it’s also a bit tragic. I found it to be very engaging and touching.

I loved the characters in this book. Margery is an intelligent but naive spinster turned explorer, and Enid is her young and attractive assistant with uncanny resourcefulness and streetsmarts. Despite the fact that they both have their flaws, they also remain incredibly charming characters, and you just can’t help but fall in love with them. I also loved the unlikely friendship that develops between these two women who don’t really seem to have anything in common at first. And although the story is about an expedition and the search for a rare beetle in the tropical wilderness of New Caledonia, the characters and their unique friendship remain the most fascinating aspect of the book. At times incredibly funny and at times also very emotional, this book was a joy to read.

EXCERPT: When Margery was ten, she fell in love with a beetle.

It was a bright summer's day and all the windows of the rectory were open. She had an idea about sailing her wooden animals across the floor, two by two, but the set had belonged to her brothers once and most of them were either coloured-in or broken. Some were missing altogether. She was wondering if, in the circumstances, you could pair a three legged camel and a bird with spots when her father came out of his study.

'Do you have a moment, old girl?' he said. 'There's something I want to show you.'

She put down the camel and the bird, and she followed him. She would have stood on her head if he'd asked.

Her father went to his desk. He sat there, nodding and smiling. She could tell he didn't have a proper reason for calling her: he just wanted her to be with him for a while. Since her four brothers had left for the war, he often called her. Or she'd find him loitering at the foot of the stairs, searching for something without seeming to know what it was. His eyes were the kindest in the world, and the bald top of his head gave him a naked look.

'I think I have something that might interest you, old girl,' he said. 'Nothing much, but maybe you will like it.'

ABOUT THIS BOOK: Margery Benson’s life ended the day her father walked out of his study and never came back. Forty years later, abandoning a dull job, she advertises for an assistant. The successful candidate is to accompany Margery on an expedition to the other side of the world to search for a beetle that may or may not exist. Enid Pretty is not who she had in mind. But together they will find themselves drawn into an adventure that exceeds all Margery’s expectations, eventually finding new life at the top of a red mountain.

MY THOUGHTS: I desperately wanted to love Miss Benson and her beetle. I didn't. I adored The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy: it sits firmly in my top ten books for forever. I liked, but did not love The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. But Miss Benson's Beetle struck me as faintly ridiculous. The characters are not characters, but caricatures. The whole thing played out like an Abbott and Costello movie. A slapstick comedy that didn't make me laugh. It didn't make me cry either. I could picture someone like Mary Pickford playing Enid, and hear the dramatic piano music coming from the pit. But I could feel nothing for the characters, and even less for the plot. Farcical is the word that comes to mind.

There were glimmers of Rachel Joyce's beautiful writing style, but only glimpses. My heart would soar with each one, then come crashing back down to earth.

Maybe it's me, because the rest of the world appears to love this book. Reading is a very personal subjective experience, and not every book is for every reader. So, if you enjoyed the extract, and the plot summary interests you, please do read Miss Benson's Beetle by Rachel Joyce. I hope that you are one of the many who love this book.

There are good things in it: life lessons like not judging people by appearance, and waiting until you have gotten to know them before deciding whether or not you like them.

But, ultimately, this was not a book for me. And I am sad about that.

😪😪.3

#MissBensonsBeetle #NetGalley

'I have begun to feel comforted by the thought of all we do not know, which is nearly everything.'

'It was as much use as a chocolate teapot.'

'She experienced the dense feeling.....as if she was always on the other side of a flawed glass wall and seeing the truth way after it was too late.'

'Her favourite time was still that brief stretch before full daylight when silver filtered into the sky, light blossomed where the stars had been, the air was sweet and fresh, and everything came back to life. It seemed full of such hope.'

'We are not the things that happened to us. We can be what we like.'

THE AUTHOR: Rachel Joyce has written over 20 original afternoon plays for BBC Radio 4, and major adaptations for both the Classic Series, Woman's Hour and also a TV drama adaptation for BBC 2. In 2007 she won the Tinniswood Award for best radio play. She moved to writing after a twenty-year career in theatre and television, performing leading roles for the RSC, the Royal National Theatre, The Royal Court, and Cheek by Jowl, winning a Time Out Best Actress award and the Sony Silver. She lives with her family in Gloucestershire.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Random House UK, Transworld Publishers, Doubleday for providing a digital ARC of Miss Benson's Beetle by Rachel Joyce for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

This review and others are also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage

Miss Margery Benson is a middle-aged teacher. Not through any real choice but because teaching young ladies is an option open to single women of her class. One day, however, she (rather dramatically) quits and decides to sink the last of her life savings into an expedition to New Caledonia, in the South Pacific, to try and discover a beetle rumoured to exist there. Her search for a competent companion to join her on this daunting trip somehow ends up with her sharing the journey, a cabin and danger with the incredibly unsuitable Enid Pretty. Nothing seems to go their way – terrible sea-sickness, the disdain of the ex-pat wives, a house which is falling down around them – but their friendship blossoms. Both women, however, have secrets which could change everything and they are both, eventually, in terrible danger – will their friendship override all of this?

A quirky, charming and thoroughly enjoyable tale about Miss Benson, who determines to track down an elusive beetle in New Caledonia, an expedition for which she is singularly ill-prepared, and which pits her against bureaucracy, the elements and the rather ill-chosen assistant she has chosen to take with her. There are plenty of adventures and misadventures along the way, some triumphs and some defeats, all related with humour, empathy, compassion and a sharp eye for the absurdities of life. It’s a heart-warming and compelling novel which kept me engaged even in its sillier moments.

Miss Benson's Beetle is an unconventional historical adventure novel set in the 1950s.

It is a magical tale of two women, Margery Benson and Enid Pretty, who appear to have little in common, committing to a trip to New Caledonia in search of the mythic rumoured golden beetle. As they are drawn into an adventure that exceeds all expectations, an unlikely friendship blossoms.

Rachel Joyce's characterisation of Margery and Enid was second to none. Unmarried Margery, aged 47, was working as a teacher, until she decided to leave after one humiliation too many. Her beloved father sparked a life long passion for etymology, particularly for the elusive golden beetle. For her part, chatterbox Enid, with her bright, yellow-blonde hair, her creams and potions, and her colourful outfits, thrived on being the centre of attention. Both women have their own reasons for leaving the country.

In a truly wonderful story, quirky characters who both irritate and endear are in abundance. Also, the setting is so well delivered that the heat, humidity and foreignness are inescapable. As secrets are gradually revealed, wildly amusing moments are balanced with terrifically moving occasions of sadness. The two women's unlikely friendship is the main element of the story though other ingredients in this fabulous literary cocktail of emotions are grief and guilt, independence and self-worth. Talented author, Rachel Joyce definitely does not disappoint with Miss Benson's Beetle.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my request from Random House, Transworld Publishers/ Doubleday via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

I loved The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and I knew when this popped up in my inbox that I needed to find out more about Margery and Enid and their adventures.

Britain is in the austere 1950’s after the second world war, rationing is still prevalent and Margery has had enough. One day her job as a domestic science teacher tips her over the edge and she does something very out of character.

She posts an advertisement for an assistant to accompany her on a expedition to New Caledonia to find the never yet discovered, Golden Beetle. Margery has had a fascination with the beetle since childhood and decides at 47, it is now or never.

Margery’s story is a sad one and she has been left by everyone she loves and has forgotten how to live. She doesn’t have many applications but only interviews three of the candidates as she feels that Enid is unsuitable. However, when Miss Hamilton drops out at the last minute she has no choice but to take Enid on as her assistant and then the fun really begins aboard the ship RMS Orion to Brisbane.

I loved this book,the writing is soothing and beautiful and the characters are larger than life. Dear Margery, sad, large and grey and Enid her polar opposite, blonde, ditsy and larger than life with her pom pom sandals. Enid is not all that she appears to be but will it be too late for Margery and her quest.

There is also a sinister side to the book which I will not go into in case of spoilers but it is slow burner but a get addiction to the story.

This book has everything, great characters, adventure, peril and love and sadness. A beautiful read about friendship and overcoming odds to achieve a dream.

After loving meeting Harold Fry I had a feeling that I would enjoy Miss Benson’s Beetle. I wasn’t prepared for how much. These characters made me laugh, cry and feel warm inside. This feeling started from the very beginning when Margery was listening to her father talk about the beetle when her life changed forever.

Margery and Enid have nothing in common initially. They don’t really argue, just don’t understand each other. But as their very long voyage across the oceans continue they start to get a little closer and become a little more tolerant of each other. Margery even starts to accept being called Marge. Whilst Margery is an open book, lonely, pragmatic and determined to find her beetle Enid is the opposite. A good time girl, but one who has a secret. Most of this secret is revealed in newspaper reports that appear at times throughout the novel. I admit, I did fear for her throughout the novel, hoping that she could stay safe. The way that Margery and Enid became close friends was lovely to read. When you could see how much they relied on each other and accepted that whilst they had little in common they had a true friendship.

Another more sinister character was always hovering in the background. Mundic, ex POW, aggrieved over being denied the job as Margery’s assistant has followed them to New Caledonia, determined to make her see her error. Damaged by his war experience, needy and increasingly erratic and you could almost see him fall apart. Because it is only five years after the war you get a real sense of his vulnerability and anger. It was difficult to dislike somebody who was so raw.

This book would be wonderful if made into a film or TV drama. Just thinking about who the actors could be added to my enjoyment of this novel.

It’s the second time within a month that I need to say how much more difficult it is to write a review when you finish reading a book you really love (lest you wonder, the last time was my review of Julie Cohen’s Spirited). My reading time’s been severely limited this week, my concentration levels all over the place, and it’s taken me an unheard of five days to read this wonderful book from cover to cover – but it has entirely consumed me, whisked me away from day-to-day realities every time I was able to pick it up (and it remained in my thoughts when I couldn’t), and I thought it was simply wonderful.

Two ill-matched companions travelling to New Caledonia in search of an undiscovered beetle might not – on the face of it – sound particularly promising as a subject. But in the hands of a writer like Rachel Joyce, it becomes entirely enthralling.

The characterisation in this book is quite magnificent. First there’s Margery – and we learn both about her solitary upbringing, her introduction to the world of entomology, the moments of trauma and disappointment in her past that saw her settle for the humdrum and unassuming life of a domestic science teacher. She’s both large and awkward, drab and grey, a bit intolerant, going through the motions of living – until, one day, a series of triggers make her decide to follow her dream.

But she needs an assistant – and Enid Pretty isn’t initially the one she wants or needs. Their meeting on a station – at the very start of their adventure – is entirely unforgettable, Margery in her purloined boots and pith helmet, Enid in her pink travelling suit and shoes with pompoms and mountain of luggage (and clutching her mysterious red valise). Margery needed an assistant who spoke French, and Enid’s linguistic skills don’t extend beyond “bon chour” – but my goodness, she certainly turns out to have a range of sometimes dubious skills that prove invaluable when things become difficult.

And while we’re talking about characters, there are so many others brought to life so vividly within this book’s pages – some providing diversion, some bringing threat and danger, others surprising with acts of kindness that have an immense impact on the lives of the two main characters.

The enchantment of the book comes, I think, from two main things. First, there’s the setting and backdrop – the journey by ship to Australia, the flying boat to New Caledonia, the colonial shenanigans when they arrive, then their fight to survive in the wilds of the north of the island. The descriptions of the challenging environment they find are just stunning – it’s inhospitable for two such ill-equipped women, threatening and hostile, but also filled with beauty, with moments that fill you with joy and sometimes take your breath away.

And then there’s the relationship between the two women, as irritation and anger gives way to love and affection, their secret pasts laid bare as they change and grow together. Emotionally, the whole shared experience is absolutely exceptional – glorious and deeply affecting, with so many moments that impacted me deeply and moved me to tears.

But there’s also a lot of well-judged humour in this book too – it seems a little rude to call it “quirky”, but I think I really must. But the way the balance is maintained, the way you find yourself willing these two exceptional women on, the way they find strengths they had no idea they possessed, the way the story grips you, the way some of the smallest details strike you to the heart… the writing is sublime, a writer at the height of her powers, and I loved every single moment.

My ideal book! Wonderfully drawn, warm, multidimensional characters and believable nuanced relationships between them. I always enjoy lots of extraneous factual detail in a fictional book and the fabulous descriptions of the beetles and the terrain explored is excellent. A romping pace and lots of humour, but plenty of substance too. Altogether one of my favourite reads yet this year.

I love Rachel Joyce’s warm, witty and compassionate writing style and her latest, Miss Benson’s Beetle, is no exception.

After losing her father and brothers at an early age, Margery Benson lives a staid, safe and conservative life, firstly with her mother and eccentric maiden aunts, and latterly on her own, earning a living as a domestic science teacher. One day she becomes the victim of a cruel and humiliating prank by her students and decides she’s had enough, walking out the school for good, and inspired by a hobby she shared with her beloved father, Margery decides to pursue her dream and embark on a search for the golden beetle on the pacific island of New Caledonia. For this expedition she will need an assistant and, after a couple of false starts, Enid Pretty enters Margery’s life.

Loud, brash and uncouth, Enid is Margery’s polar opposite but through several trials and near-death experiences this unlikely pair eventually forge a moving and inspirational friendship and as the book evolves it becomes clear that Enid was so desperate to join the expedition because she had more than a few trials of her own to escape from at home.

Rachel Joyce’s writing is warm and witty and I was really rooting for these unlikely heroines to succeed in their quest to fine the golden beetle and some purpose and peace in their lives. A quirky, uplifting and joyful novel.

My thanks to Random House U.K. Transworld Publishers for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘Miss Beeson’s Beetle’ by Rachel Joyce in exchange for an honest review.

I have previously read and loved Rachel Joyce’s 2012 debut, ‘The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry’, and as a result was very much looking forward to this novel.

In 1914 when she was ten Margery Benson fell in love with a beetle, specifically the legendary Golden Beetle of New Caledonia. Later, her interest was further encouraged by a Professor at the Natural History Museum. She had hoped to travel to the South Pacific in search of it but instead ended up teaching domestic science for twenty years.

Now it is 1950 and Margery is in her mid40s and frustrated by her life. A humiliating incident at school encourages her to break free of the constraints of her life and she embarks on her trip to the other side of the world. She has advertised for an assistant though Enid Pretty, with her luminous blonde hair, heavy makeup and bright pink travel suit, is not exactly the companion Margery had in mind.

Yet this unlikely pair are drawn into an amazing adventure that exceeds all of Margery’s expectations.

This was an amazing novel that combined elements of drama with dry humour. Much of the comedic elements came from the contrast between shy, inhibited Margery and free spirit Enid. The predicaments that Enid seems to continually get them into was also a source of its quirky humour. Their dialogue was delightful.

It is a multilayered take with elements within the story of tragedy and loss alongside the exploration of a friendship between two very different women.

Rachel Joyce is an established playwright and so perhaps it is not surprising that dialogue was one of the many strengths of this novel.

I elected to pair my eARC with its audiobook edition, narrated by Juliet Stevenson, for an immersive reading experience. Stevenson is one of my favourite narrators and she excelled herself in capturing the voices of these characters.

Overall, a beautifully told heartwarming tale with a great deal of depth. I expect that it will prove a popular choice with reading groups given its themes and the excellent writing.

Highly recommended.

Rachel Joyce is my favourite author EVER! Her books always leave me with a new concept and look on life. I would truly recommend you read all of her novels as they will stay with you long after you’ve read the last page.