"Miss Benson's Beetle" was amusing and heartwarming. When Margery was ten, her father showed her a picture of the golden beetle of New Caledonia. There had been reported sightings of the beetle, but a specimen had never been captured and therefore, the beetle had never been formally acknowledged and recognized. Margery was enamored by the picture and decided she would be the first person to go to New Caledonia and find the beetle. However, right after she learned about the beetle, tragedy struck the family and her life was upended. She would go on to learn everything she could about beetles, aided by an employee at the Natural History Museum in London. Yet, things did not go as planned and after an embarrassing misunderstanding, Margery left the world of beetles behind and became a teacher of domestic science. She knew the students and staff made fun of her because of her appearance and mannerisms, but one day she was pushed too far and made an impetuous decision that cost her her job. Margery decided that she would take what money she had and fulfill her childhood dream of going to New Caledonia and finding the golden beetle.

However, while she had meticulously planned the trip, including how she was going to get from London to New Caledonia, how to get to the northern part of the island where the beetle had reported been spotted, lodging, supplies, and the length of the trip, nothing would go as planned, starting with her efforts to find an assistant. Her advertisement for an assistant did not get much of a response and circumstances forced her to accept Enid Pretty, the last person she wanted to accept. Enid Pretty was everything Margery was not -- flamboyant, outgoing, attractive, not "book" smart but definitely "street" smart, resourceful, daring, persistent, and a non-stop talker. Anyone who saw them together would find them to be a rather strange pair. Yet, as the events of the book demonstrate, for as much as Enid annoys and confuses Margery at times (due in part to Enid's strange behavior at times, as she is hiding a major secret), they turn out to be quite a good team.

There are numerous amusing incidents that occur on the trip to New Caledonia and the time spent in New Caledonia, where so many things seem to go wrong. However, as Margery and Enid deal with the challenges, they end up discovering that they are more capable than they thought. Enid is able to help Margery rediscover the inner strength and sense of wonder that had been buried deep inside her due to life circumstances and to help her discover a sense of self-worth she may have never realized she had. Margery's influence on Enid is not quite as obvious, but she does help Enid realize that she does not have to be defined by her life circumstances (which have been rather rough at times) and that she is capable of being a mother, something she has always wanted, but has so far been denied her (numerous miscarriages).

Adding to the obstacles posed by the expedition itself and numerous things not going as planned or not being as advertised/expected (for example, the lodging Margery booked to use as their base camp), both Margery and Enid have problems from home that have followed them to New Caledonia, both figuratively and literally, which present unexpected challenges and adventures. There are some unexpected twists in the book, especially the secret of what is in Enid's red valise, which she does not want out of her sight. The ending is quite good; the reader will finish the book with a smile. I would certainly recommend this book.

I received a copy of the e-book via NetGalley in exchange for a review.

I have a hit or miss history with Rachel Joyce. It took me a while to engage with this one. We’ve got two quirky characters. Miss Benson lost her father as a child. Her main connection with him is a desire to find an Incredible Creature, a creature believed to exist but never documented. In her case, it’s to find the Golden Beetle in New Caledonia. To which end, she hires Enid Pretty as her assistant. They’re opposites in every way imaginable. I found I cared for both women, outcasts for entirely different reasons. Each has a goal and the goals would seem to be mutually exclusive.
As is always the case in books like this, these polar opposites grow to appreciate and even love each other. But the cliche works, with enough different twists that kept me engaged. This is a sweet book but it lacked any sense of punch for me. A solid three stars.
My thanks to netgalley and Random House for an advance copy of this book.

Quirky and delightful. I throughly enjoyed this book. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC

I dare anyone to read the first chapter of this fine novel and not continue on with curiosity! This story can be read on different levels- an amazing adventure where you feel like you’re actually traveling around the world, or a subtler metaphor about the “golden beetle” we each might be chasing. And if the story itself doesn’t grab you, be sure to read the note from the author at the back of the book about how this story came to be!

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I have loved every book by Rachel Joyce, and Miss Benson’s Beetle did not disappoint. The book follows an unlikely pair on an adventure to find a special beetle in the wilderness. Neither woman is prepared for the trip nor the mishaps that will occur but somehow they survive. I think Rachel Joyce does such a great job weaving a story together with quirky, misfit characters that you cheer on by the end. Don’t miss the author’s note at the end that explains how the seeds were planted for this story. I found it just as interesting as the story itself.

Thank you to Rachel Joyce, Random House Publishing Group, Dial Press Trade Paperback, and NetGalley for ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars! I loved this book. I don't usually get Netgalley books, but I was so happy to get this one because Rachel Joyce always writes good books. Both women in this book, Margery and Enid are wonderful characters!

loved this book more than I can say. The writing, the characters, the small moments described with such care and attention, the strength and tenderness...all of it made for an incredible, quirky, delightful, memorable read.

Amazing book. Will be good for book clubs. Set in England and the island of New Caledonia it is the story of how women through the centuries have overcome the barriers and obstacles thrown at them by men who think they know better. This story starts slowly, but builds to an unexpected ending. Miss Benson should be a hero to all women.

I received an electronic ARC from Random House Publishing Group - Random House through NetGalley.
This is not my favorite of Joyce's books. I have loved everything else I read by her but this one did not hold my interest. The painfully slow beginning took too long to introduce the three main characters before launching into the story itself. Marjory Benson has had a tragic life and Enid Pretty is clearly running from something. Mundic's life has also been tragic and he obviously still suffers from PTSD from his war experiences. The expedition itself offers the opportunity to change lives and break stereotypes from the time period.
The last half of the book offers more energy and interweaves the characters as they come to know each other. The counterbalance of Mundic constantly stalking them still feels a bit contrived at times.
I will definitely read more from Joyce and am sure others will thoroughly enjoy this one. For me, it felt flat and I didn't care about the characters' journeys.

Margery Benson has lived most of her 47 years adrift, crammed into small spaces and roles by family circumstance and- because this is post World War 2 England - society. She doesn't question her role or placement and plods half heartedly through life until the day that her students humiliate her and she walks out of school clutching someone else's hockey boots.

Now unexpectedly out of a job and perhaps wanted by the police, Margery falls back on one of her happiest memories, the moment her father showed her a Golden Beetle in a book of amazing animals. Having been inspired by that image, she has learned about beetles throughout her life since, Now that there's nothing to pin her in place, Margery decides to go to New Caledonia, where the elusive beetle is rumoured to live,

But first, she hires an assistant, Enid Pretty.

The relationship between Margery and Enid is the heart of the book. Separated by a generation, and wildly opposite in temperament, the two fumble and flail at building a working partnership, first on the five eek long ocean crossing, and then across the rolling pin- shaped, mountain covered island that is New Caledonia. It was great fun to watch them collide and carom off each other as they wrangled with their very different personalities and opinions. The loveliest bits were set in the mountainous tropical forests of New Caledonia, whacking their way through tangled lianas and mosquito infested bogs to reach the top of the fabled wisdom- tooth mountain in search of the golden beetle.

Miss Benson's Beetle was a rollicking adventure story- one that centered on a pair of female explorer- scientists, which was fabulous fun to read. There were a few plot points that felt stuck in for the drama (or resolution of same,) but overall was a delightful escape, and who doesn't need that these days?

This book was strange but I enjoyed it. I is basically about following your passions. It takes you on a trip with 47 year old Marjory as she finally discovers herself and lives the life that she always wanted to live despite all obstacles. It is at times humorous and at times depressing. It takes you on an emotional roller coaster.

Margery’s Benson has lived a very narrow life. She’s not fully aware of that until she decides to head to New Caledonia In search of a golden beetle. Margery’s assistant, Enid Pretty was not her first choice to help her fulfill her dream of finding the beetle that no one has seen as it supposedly exists only on one mountain in New Caledonia. As Margery and Enid search for the beetle, they each discover things about the other that leads to a strong bond of friendship. The gold beetle becomes secondary to the relationship between the two w9men.

Miss Benson's Beetle by Rachel Joyce has earned many positive reviews. However, this was not the book for me. It did not resonate with me at all, and I felt misled by the positive reviews that led me to request this book as an ARC. I was rather disappointed because I did so enjoy The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry.

Basically, this is the story of two women who were most unlikely to become friends…but they did. Margery Benson had a startling end to her happy childhood in England at age 10 when her father committed suicide after learning about the death of all four of his sons in World War I. Margery and her mother lose their home and are forced to move in with her fathers’ sisters.

Jump ahead to Margery’s life in her 40s. She’s never had a friend or a husband. She thought she had a romance once, but she was disappointed. She did have a dream of finding a gold beetle on the island of New Caledonia, but over the years that dream had faded until the day Margery just had more than enough and decided to cast everything aside as she figured out how to take this journey to search for the gold beetle on the other side of the world.

She needed an assistant for this expedition, and four candidates were considered. In the end, the least desired candidate, Enid Pretty, was the only one who wanted to go on this adventure. It is Enid who causes so many complications to the story starting with not having her passport for the voyage. Enid is a non-stop talker, while Margery has little to say. Margery early on figures she just needs to dump Enid and find a suitable assistant. A series of events changes everything.

A third character, an unsuccessful candidate for the assistant, was a former POW who became obsessed with being Margery’s assistant even though he was unstable. The book would have been much stronger without the distraction of this character.

Rachel Joyce, the author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, has written radio plays for BBC Radio 4. Prior to becoming a writer, she was a performer in theatre and television.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting September 21, 2020.

I’d like to thank Random House Publishing Group - Random House and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

Just fantastic! A rare book that not only lives up to its premise but actually surpasses it. At first I was going to say I disliked Margery and Enid separately but loved them as a pair. But as the book went on, I found both of them growing on me. A lot. By the time they get to New Caledonia, a I was thoroughly in love with both of them. A great, fun adventure of the old fashioned variety, about two women vs nature, each other, and the world, not necessarily in that order.

Margery Benson has lead a sad and boring life. She has taught home economics for 20 years while dreaming of finding a mythical beetle on an island off of Australia. Finally she has had enough! With the most unlikely of assistants and rather sketchy plans (and finances), she leaves Britain behind. A joy to from beginning to end and a wonderful look at distant part of the world.

I did not finish this book because I really couldn't get interested in the characters. There was too much description of all that Miss Benson planned to bring with her, too much description of clothing, and while I am hoping that the characters were going to learn and grow as they proceeded on their trip, I didn't feel like going with them. I really liked Joyce's Unlikely Pilgrimage and liked Music Shop, I didn't like the other books. I'll purchase the book for my library, but will not be recommending it.

This is a heartwarming book about overcoming difficulties with life. Set in the 1950s beginning in England, traveling through Australia and on to New Caledonia. A disgruntled teacher slowly discovers the inner beauty of her traveling companion/assistant. The descriptions of the scenery is Worth the read alone. However, we also are cheering for Miss Benson and learning about her life and the lives of those who are with her. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Margery is a middle-aged teacher that witnessed her father’s suicide as a child. She was rejected by a long love interest, and has become the joke of her school. She has always dreamed of finding the golden beetle that her father talked about and one day walks out of school to start planning her adventure. She interviews a variety of applicants to be her assistant and ends up with the most unlikely companion – Enid Pretty, a wacky bleached blonde that talks constantly. The two of them will battle trip delays, lost luggage, sea sickness, floods, police pursuit, and medical emergencies. They each must also battle their own demons and before forming an unlikely bond needed to overcome all the obstacles in their way.
Their journey will make the readers laugh as well as cry. The eccentric cast of characters and settings make for quite an adventure. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishers for allowing me to read and give an honest review.

A few months ago, I cut out a Mutts comic strip depicting a dog and cat, both engrossed in books, with the caption “Reading gives us someplace to go when we have to stay where we are.” One of the most unusual places I’ve “visited” this summer is the remote island of Grand Terre, New Caledonia, located in the South Pacific, about 750 miles east of Australia. Traveling from London to Grand Terre would be something of a challenge even in modern pre-pandemic times, but in 1950, it took weeks and weeks to get there.

It was a trip no single woman would want to undertake by herself, even one as solid and practical as Miss Margery Benson, a spinster in her late 40s. In the book’s first chapter, we learn her tragic backstory; when she was a child, all four of her brothers went off to fight in World War I, where they were all killed on the same day. Her grieving father committed suicide, and her mother slowly faded away, leaving Margery to be raised by her two strict aunts. The only passion in awkward young Margery’s life is beetles. After seeing a drawing of a golden beetle in a book belonging to her father, she became obsessed with them; after his death, she spends hours at the Natural History Museum studying specimens. She sees “silver beetles, black beetles, red, yellow, metallic blue, and green beetles; mottled beetles, hairy beetles, stippled, spotted, striped, burnished,” on and on, but no golden beetles.

Following an embarrassing incident at the school where she’s taught for the past two decades, Margery abruptly walks off the job, determined to take the trust fund she inherited from her aunts and travel to New Caledonia, rumored habitat of the golden beetle. She advertises for an assistant to accompany her on the trip, and through a series of misadventures, she winds up with the distinctly unqualified Enid Pretty, a young, flighty, talkative woman who drives Margery bananas when they are stuck together in a tiny stateroom during their long voyage to Australia.

Eventually, however, the two women start to bond, but their relationship has its ups and downs; when they finally reach Australia, Enid at first decides to stay instead of continuing to New Caledonia. As she notes how quickly Enid has made new friends, Margery feels desperately lonely: “She thought of the group of women… and how easily they had sat together, as if they had no secrets. It occurred to Margery that something inside her was hurting, and the thing that was hurting was the knowledge that she would never be that kind of woman. She would always be on the outside.”

Of course, this isn’t the kind of novel which would allow the two women to be parted just before their adventure begins, and they do continue to New Caledonia, where they will face moments of grave danger and experience great joy. In addition, Margery will find out just what Enid is carrying in her ever-present valise, and the secret she tried to leave behind back in England.

This is a heartfelt and engaging novel, though there were a couple of plot twists I wasn’t crazy about. Mostly, Rachel Joyce’s wonderfully descriptive writing made me feel as though I was along for the ride, hiking up the mountains of Grand Terre, in search of the elusive golden beetle.

Miss Margery Benson's girlhood dream was to travel to New Caledonia to discover a rare golden beetle whose existence has never been proven. In her late forties, Margery walks right out of her miserable teaching job in someone else's boots, knowing that no matter what happens, she must make that voyage and pursue that dream.

Twenty-something Enid Pretty is not Margery's first choice of traveling companions. Margery and Enid are misfits, and their quest seems impossible. As Margery and Enid push their endurance to its limits and their friendship grows, a disturbed P.O.W. named Mundic is tracking them down.

Miss Benson's Beetle is a rewarding postwar novel about women charting their own courses and making discoveries against all odds, in spite of their own trauma and the trauma of the men around them. Rachel Joyce's writing is powerful and confident, and these characters leap off the page. I was reminded of "Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day" as Margery and Enid, a generation apart, each rely on the wisdom and strength of the other to create their lives anew in a war-torn world.