Ms Joyce is a genius at choosing the most unlikely characters for heroes. Be prepared to be fall in love with some of the most imperfect people you have ever met in a book. It is their imperfections that make them brave and strong and true. Which gives me hope for the real word.

Unfortunately, I just could not get into this book. The characters were not particularly likable and the story just would not get started. I put it down at around 25%.

It was the title that caught my attention. Miss Benson's Beetle...I mean, honestly, who wouldn't have their interest piqued? The description seemed fun: two completely different ladies set off on an adventure across the world and discover friendship along the way. Who doesn't love a good story about adventure and friendship? I have to say, Rachel Joyce brought quite the story. Margery Benson and Enid Pretty are as different as their names. When Enid signs on to be Margery's assistant on an expedition to find a golden beetle in New Caledonia, neither one expects what comes. Not only do they have to fight for every leg of their journey to happen, they have to hold each other up and become what the other needs. The story of friendship is subtle. You don't realize at first that friends they will be. In fact, you wonder how they are continuing without hurting each other. But, as they sail across oceans, drive the hills in a stolen jeep, and fight their way to the top of a mountain, they will become so much more than friends. Very well written. Very engaging. Well worth the read. You won't be disappointed.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book. All opinions are my own.

Margery Benson is a single woman past her prime, stuck in a job she hates, and feeling very alone in the world. When her circumstances change suddenly, she decides to throw caution to the wind and follow the dream of her childhood to travel to New Caledonia to bring back the elusive gold beetle and become a renown scientist. By default she hires the improbable Enid Pretty to be her assistant on the venture, and a more unlikely candidate can hardly be imagined. As different as the women are, they share the facts that they each have secrets and they each are obsessed with a goal. The poignance of their eventual friendship and devotion is heightened by the hilarity provided by each of their pecadillos. The strengths of two women pursuing their dreams in spite of seemingly overwhelming odds, added to the adventures they experience along the way, make this an entertaining and uplifting read.

I received a free ARC from Netgalley.
I didn't realize when I requested this book, that I had already read a few books by this author and loved them so that was a pleasant surprise when I got to the author's note at the end. Rachel Joyce has written an adventure story that introduces us to a new kind of hero - Margery who is tall, plain and devoted to finding a beetle whose existence has not yet been proven. She has pretty much been let down by everyone and everything in her life so far so I was rooting for her in this enormous endeavor. A charming book filled with lots of action and unforgettable characters.

The setting is post-war England where there is still rationing and life is still difficult for everyone. Margery Benson is a child at the beginning of this story. She's with her father in his study. He walks out and she hears a gunshot and never sees her father again. She and her mother go to live with her aunts, where Margery is basically ignored. Forty years later, Margery walks out on her teaching job, hires an assistant, and goes in search of a mythical golden beetle she thinks will be found in New Caledonia. Margery is a large woman who is socially awkward, is single, has no friends, but has been obsessed with researching beetles all her life. The assistant, Enid Pretty, is totally unqualified to assist Margery, but Margery had been unable to find anyone else. Enid turned up at the last minute determined to go on this journey. However, Enid has a secret and Margery has no clue. Also, there is a man who applied for the job, but Margery found him unsuitable as he made a bad impression at his interview. He's a POW who definitely has PTSD and imagines things that aren't really there.

Strange characters, and strange story. But it works! Overall this was an unexpectedly fun read. The characters are quirky and interesting. Their interactions are complicated by closely held secrets. The search for the beetle is full of difficulties to be overcome - and it may not even exist, but Margery is convinced that it does. A good adventure story!

Thanks to Random House Publishing Group through Netgalley for an advance copy.

Solid 3.5 stars. Started off a bit slow and I wasn't sure where it was going. The friendship that develops between Margery and Enid is lovely, but certain plot elements were unnecessary and didn't add anything to the story from my perspective.

Miss Benson's Beetle is a surprisingly heartwarming tale of friendship and entomology. Rachel Joyce deftly takes readers from dreary post-WWII London to New Caledonia in search of the elusive, perhaps mythic, golden beetle.

I enjoy stories of unlikely friendships, and the pair of Margery and Enid fit that bill perfectly. Their misadventures are worth reading about, and this would make a fantastic film too.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts are my own.

Margery Benson fell in love with the gold beetle of New Caledonia when she was 10 years old. It was the same day she lost her beloved father and four brothers. So begins “Miss Benson’s Beetle”. After reading the first chapter I put the book aside for a week before I picked it up again to finish. The next chapter picks up over 30 years later when Miss Benson decides she needs to travel to New Caledonia to discover a new beetle, the gold beetle. Join Miss Benson and her young travelling companion, Enid Pretty, on a long and interesting journey from Great Britain to Australia to New Caledonia.

I never would have imagined that I would enjoy a story about a beetle so much! I am not into bugs, but I have now unwittingly learned more about beetles than I ever thought possible. Even better than learning about the beetles was the sweet story of how two vastly different individuals could come together and find a common ground and even learn to love one another like family.

The story begins with Margery Benson, a spinster science teacher with a boring life and a sad past. She has no family and most likely will never marry. But her father left her with one dream and that was to find a rare golden beetle. Margery had put this dream aside for years, but one day certain events led her to take that chance and find the beetle.

Margery advertises for an assistant and when all her prospective applicants drop by the wayside, she ends up with Enid Pretty, who is just about as different from Margery as a woman could get. Unfortunately for Margery, Enid has a few surprises up her sleeve that come to light on their expedition.

This was a bit of slap-stick, a bit of mystery and a wonderful story of what happens when people take time to really get to know one another and reveal their hurts, their dreams and their deepest desires in life.

I loved it and recommend it to anyone in need of an uplifting story.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for allowing me to read and review and advance copy and give my honest review.

Miss Benson's Beetle is a fun and exciting read. Rachel Joyce crafted an amazing set of characters and an interesting story. It is written in a way that keeps the reader wondering until the very end.

I love this one! Thanks to netgalley for letting me preview it. As a middle aged woman, I can identify with our protagonist, Miss Benson. She feels unwanted, unnecessary, and invisible. Nothing has been the same since her brothers died and her father "disappeared". She and her father shared a love of creatures, either real or fantastical. Her life kind of passes with very little to remark upon but she has always had a love of entomology, she just kind of forgets about it. Something happens, as it sometimes does, and she needs a change. One day she just decides to look for the maybe real/ perhaps fantastical golden beetle. Her search for an assistant and eventual trip and relationship with that assistant are the stuff of magic. Everyday magic, to be sure, but magic just the same.

Perseverance, trust, growth, understanding, and strength are all themes here. I heartily recommend this one!, .

This is a book of many layers. At its outer layer, it's a story that demands some suspension of reality. Two women are thrown together in desperation and as they embark and continue through a series of improbable adventures, they develop a close bond and overcome many of the hardships and obstacles they encounter. The fate of one of them is a letdown, though not a total surprise. Beneath its outer layer, this is a story of women's friendships and their strength and power: the power to overcome adversity, the power to achieve what seems to be impossible, and the power of love. At its core layer, this is a story about knowing oneself, about what really lies within, and about awakening and calling upon those newly revealed insights to help others. Although this is not the genre I read often, I could not put this book down. Highly recommended.

This was a 5-star emotional read! Taking a tragedy and creating a new life that changes her outlook about everything. This book is about friendship, family, and bravery. I loved it!

Another amazing tale from Rachel Joyce - inspiring, heartbreaking, thought provoking (encourages introspection!) and just absolutely wonderful!

When Margery was a little girl, her father told her about a mystical golden beetle. This happened on the day he died, so many years passed before she revisited the idea. But once she thought of the beetle again, she started to think about going to find it. Her research lead her to believe that it could be found in New Caledonia.

It’s now the 1950’s and Margery is in her late 40’s. She’s working at a school. Her life has been rough. And one day, after a particularly bad day at the school, she decides it’s finally time to complete her mission. She will find the beetle and she will bring it home.

She places an ad for a helper to go with her. She meets one qualified candidate that declines the job, one man damaged by time as a POW, and gets one response from someone who can’t quite tell the difference between the letter b and the letter d.
The last one is Enid.

Through a chain of events, Margery takes Enid along for the journey. Enid might not be qualified but she is unfailingly kind to Margery. Margery does appreciate Enid’s friendship at first. But, although they could not be more different from each other, they grow close on the journey to find the beetle.

I won’t say anything bordering on a spoiler but I have to say this: there’s a third character in the book that I just did not like at all. I feel the character could have been entirely removed from the story without losing anything. So, it’s rough to have chapters devoted to someone that I didn’t enjoy reading about. I loved reading about Enid especially and Margery too. Enid’s story pulled me in the most of all.

I got to read an early ebook edition from NetGalley. Thanks!

This is an original story as you. Ours no doubt tell from the title. Miss Benson, has had enough, at last she is going to fulfill her dream of finding a rare beetle in New Caledonia. She plans the trip and interviews for an assistant. The applicants are a varied crew and will add to the story. Apparently Miss Benson is not the only one setting out to fulfill a dream. I especially enjoyed the friendship of the main women characters.

A story reminiscent of Thelma and Louis, with an adventurous twist!

I highly enjoyed the beetle search and how realistic the descriptions of life in the wilderness were. There were some parts of the story that made me cringe and didn't feel necessary to the story line, which is why I took off a couple of stars. I really appreciated the accurate descriptions of PTSD in soldiers. There were quite a bit of humorous moments that made me chuckle out loud. I really enjoyed Miss Benson as a character and would love to go on an adventure with her! Overall, an exciting read and I did not expect a few of the things that happened!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Random House/Dial Trade Publishing for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

An interesting story about deciding to live your dreams and the friendship you find along the way. I appreciated the lyrical writing and vivid imagery...for about half the book, but the longer I read, the more I started thinking how this book could have been condensed down and been more impactful. But overall it was an interesting read. Not my favorite, but I enjoyed it for the most part. #MissBensonsBeetle and #NetGalley

Not really me cup of tea. I was excited it read it, I love underdog stories, stories about woman who defy the odds and prove it, not only to their naysayers but, to themselves as well. Sadly, the more I read I couldn’t help but think it was just a lot of filler, like it’s actually a short story that the powers-that-be demanded it be a novel. It felt long, and took me way too long to finish. Sorry.