I have read 4 of Rachel Joyce's novels which is why I requested--and was delighted--to receive this one. My favorite is The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy, Her novels are charming and quirky and this was no exception.

3.5, but not rounding up.

The premise: "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." And so it begins,

Advertised as "...a story that is less about what can be found than the belief it might be found..." this novel, starts in post-WWII/early 1950s Britain, and takes the spinster, 47-year-old Margery Benson, on a journey of self-discovery. Margery, or Marge, as Enid calls her, is obsessed with etymology and the search for the mysterious golden beetle, which has a symbiotic relationship with white orchids -- in New Caledonia, She has no problem abandoning her job as a teacher--she never liked it--plus she stole a pair of boots, setting some of her plan in motion.

Margery and Enid are polar opposites who have a somewhat strained relationship--or at least it is for Margery--especially at the beginning. And yet...

At times it felt waaay too long and I had to plod through; other times the prose amused me and the dry humor carried me.

I liked the oddities of both Marge and Enid. Another odd character was Mr, Mundic; although he had a pivotal role he took up much less space.

Some phrases/sentences I liked:

"...wearing a raincoat that could happily have doubled as a curtain..."

"She was calling her "Marge" as of she were a highly processed alternative to butter"

"He was a short man with shoulders like structural beams and a solid mustache that looked as if it would fall off if he moved too fast."

"She stuck her hands on her hips. She looked like a jug, with her wide-open mouth as the spout."

"...a thousand insects briefly switched to mute."

and many more

One thing struck me as curious: a weight allowance was in pounds; I would have thought kilos.

So though at times too long and too much back and forth in their journey, I enjoyed the slow development of their relationship and the slight suspense. The plot development, however, often was too sluggish.

No spoiler from me, but somewhat of a neat and tidy ending. BUT I liked it!

I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The book started out strong with a delightful premise and characters that made me laugh. There is a strong sense of female friendship and adventure. However, mid-read the book just became disjointed and seemed to be in a rush to wrap up. Didn’t care for the ending, The presence of the crazy Mr, Murdic was just odd to me.

Quirky characters, a friendship story, a murder mystery, an adventure story, a story about following your dreams and your passion in life. Yes - all of these describe the same story. Rachel Joyce has done it again.

Margery Benson has not had an easy life since her father walked out forty years ago. Having a secret passion for beetles, she decides she needs to make a change, and advertises for a partner to travel with her to New Caledonia in order to search for a rare beetle that may, or may not, exist. Along comes Enid Pretty, not exactly the type of person she was looking for. Off they go, and I laughed and cried my way through the book, a wonderful story of friendship between two radically different women.

Margary Benson, a 47 year-old science teacher, abandons her job and sets out on an expedition to search for the golden beetle of New Caledonia. She hires Enid Pretty to be her assistant. Both ladies are strong, flawed, quirky characters who save each other a few times during the trip. It is a story about their friendship and how it grows. Uplifting and delightful, the story has many humorous and entertaining parts. I have read all of Rachel Joyce's books and love her writing. I look forward to reading her next book. I would highly recommend this to those who love travel and adventure. Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for a free copy for an honest review.

An uplifting, but melancholy novel about two women on a life-changing adventure, looking for an insect that may or may not exist-the golden beetle of New Caledonia. It is 1950 and Margery Benson, a schoolteacher living alone, is just trying to get through life. One day, she reaches her breaking point and decides to leave England. When she advertises for an assistant to accompany her, the woman she ends up with is not the one she had in mind. The two form a partnership that eases the sadness of their individual lives.

This is my first ready by Rachel Joyce and I see why she has a lot of fans. This one was the perfect book for these times as it was a great escape. There’s a quest to find a magical golden beetle, an exotic location, and characters that I rooted for to find happiness.

We first meet Margery Benson during tragic events in her childhood that shape the woman she becomes. We flash forward about 40 years and she’s just plain miserable working at a school and unhappy with her life. She decides to finally follow her life-long wish to find a golden beetle on the island of New Caledonia. It’s the 1950s so this is a boat ride to the other side of the world from England. She brings along an assistant who was her last choice for the job. Enid is just about the opposite of Marge – she’s a petite blonde woman who brings all the wrong clothes for a jungle expedition.

Together the two women tackle seasickness, French bureaucracy on the island, hilarious attempts to set up a tent in the jungle, and dangerous cyclones. And there’s a mysterious man who seems to be following them. This one is more about the journey than finding the elusive beetle. The two women ultimately bond and I grew to really like these characters.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advance copy
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Miss Benson’s Beetle started out strong. The characters were likable and the story was different from everything else I’ve read. Miss Benson had a traumatic childhood and now middle aged, lives a very vanilla life. She’d long ago given up her dream of finding a rare beetle her father showed her. The beetle is thought to only exist on the other side of the world in New Caledonia.

She interviews potential assistants and where it goes from there is completely unbelievable. Maybe that’s the point. I don’t know. With suspended belief I took the trip with Miss Benson and her side kick across the world and up the mountain in search of the elusive beetle. This was an easy read but not realistic at all.

Oh Enid! 😢. What a lovely and different book! How does an author create a journey that the reader eats like candy? I’m usually thrown by dry descriptions but this was captivating. Amazing to me how some people can sit down and write something so unique that draws you in and makes you feel like you are right there slashing through the vines and roots of a jungle. I could feel the snakes skittering across my feet and the bugs buzzing my face. The friendship of the women and Margery’s sad childhood tragedies are believable. Loved this sentence “I have begun to feel comforted by the thought of all we do not know, which is nearly everything “. So well done!

Reading Miss Benson's Beetle brought to mind the works of Charles Dickens and also, a beautiful Masterpiece Theater movie, to be made someday (I wish). I haven't cast the characters of Madgery Benson and Enid Pretty, in my mind yet, but I'll get back to you on that. I know I won't be forgetting this book for a very long time.

In 1914 London, when Margery is ten years old, she loses her father, four brothers, and her home, all at the same time. Margery and her mother go to live with her extremely religious, pessimistic, spinster aunts. Margery's mother and aunts never speak of what happened in the past, with Margery's mother spending all her time sitting in a chair. Margery is obsessed with beetles and researches and studies them seriously until her late twenties, when she has another great loss in her life. Thus starts a twenty year lonely, drudgery as a school teacher where she is bullied and made fun of, by students and teachers alike, just as she was treated in her younger days. Margery is tall, large boned and heavy and invisible except when people decide to make fun of her looks. Finally, after more abuse by her students, Margery marches out of the school where she taught, a pair of purloined books under her arm, and realizes she is now free to travel to New Caledonia, to search for the golden beetle, the obsession of her younger days.

Margery's very ill suited (both literally and figuratively) assistant is the bottom of the barrel of those who applied for the job. But beggars can't be choosers so Enid Pretty, bleached blond, almost illiterate, talking a mile a minute about nonsense, and the opposite of Margery in every way, embarks on this months long adventure with Margery. Unknown to them is the fact that they are being stalked by Mundic, a former POW, suffering both mental and physical disabilities, sure that he was meant to be leading Margery's expedition and determined to get rid of Enid, who has the job that he knows should be his own.

Despite the darkness, feelings of hopelessness, drudgery, and danger in this book, there is also a great deal of humor. But also, there is change and growth for Margery and Enid and Margery notes times when she or Enid become changed people, along this journey. They are deeply affected by the things that happened to them in the past, that happen to them during these months and that happen between them, as these two very unlikely companions become the best of friends. At first it was hard to like either person because Margery is so overwhelmingly lonely, hopeless and sad and Enid seemed to be a ditz on amphetamines. But as time goes on, we get to know these two women, their pasts, and the events in their lives affect them and I began to love both characters. The author did such a great job with all the characters in this book, giving even side characters personality and depth.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Random House/The Dial Press and NetGalley for this ARC.

The author's other books is what t drew me to this title. She hasn't failed yet in keeping me entertained! I read several other reviews about this story line until I ran across one that hinted at the reason behind the narrative. If you only care for a fun romp, this book provides and more than conquers that goal. The main characters travel to an obscure location that many of us would not recognize.. Each person involved leaves at a moment's notice for various reasons. One way the author holds your attention is how she reveals each person's previous life throughout the book, peeling back events have made them who they have become.

If you enjoy delving deeper into the meaning of the story line, this is the book for you. I'm sure there may be more than I discerned, but I'll relate my experience. How do we choose or view who might be our friend. As I review my list of friends, I see that they are quite diverse. I might not have chosen some of them if I had their personalities all laid out for me. Many of my friends just came along as I have traveled this earth--not specifically chosen at the first moment. Some became my friends when we were shoved together at work with a common goal. Our oddities oftentimes aid us in coping with our lives as we go along. We gain survival techniques as our life bumps and grinds along.

Secondly, multiple characters, not just the main characters, could be scrutinized concerning how they are attempting to reach their lifetime hopes and dreams. A few were unable to attain this goal as life swept them along the twisting and turning that life takes. Such is real life!

Even without investigating underpinned morals, this book was a marvelous adventure! Slightly longer than many books, but I enjoyed every extra page!

Set in post-war England, the 1950s were hard times. England, still recovering from the war, supplies were in short supply, with rationing still a very real thing. Marjery Benson, attempting to teach a class in school, intercepts a drawing being passed around and it is the last straw for her. She walks out of school, stealing the head mistress's boots on the way. Her father got her interested in insects of all kinds and it has been Marjery's lifelong goal to discover the rumored golden beetle of New Caledonia. She sets out to go, and of course, she needs an assistant. Turning down several who were unsuitable, she resolves to go on her own. As she is ready to board, Enid Pretty, one of the previous applicants, turns up and pleads to go along. The two set out on a long, arduous journey. Marjery at age 47 is awkward, with very few social skills. Enid, for all her appearance as an airhead, knows how to make her way around.

The two women do indeed make it to New Caledonia, where they rent a house and proceed to search for the beetle. This is a well-thought-out story, bringing entomology to the forefront. The story is, by turns, funny and sad, but one to keep a person reading.

I thought this would be an interesting book to read, and it has its moments. Miss Margery Benson is a teacher at a girl's academy and is the butt of every joke until one day a caricature snaps her last garter. She steels the deputy's lacrosse boots and several other items as she makes her way out of the school and back to her flat.

When Margery was a child, her father showed her a book of insects and animals that were presumed to have existed, but no one had even seen them before. One insect caught her eye and she decided then that she would be the one to find it.

On the day that Margery snapped, she put into motion the series of events that would take her to New Caledonia to find the golden beetle.

Quite a few of the characters in this book are unhinged in one way or another. Mr. Murdic had been a POW during World War II on the island of Burma. His years in the POW camp left him a shell of his former self. Enid Pretty is a woman with secrets and an over-the-top personality that grates on everyone's nerves. These characters detract from the overall appeal of the book for me.

This is the first book I read by Rachel Joyce, and it was definitely an interesting read, though outside my usual genre. It's a four star book.

Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley.com provided the copy I read for this review. The opinions expressed are my own.

This book has a delightful main character, Miss Margery Benson. She wants to make her mark by finding a golden beetle that no one has ever captured or classified, maybe never even seen. Benson's father had noted it in his scientific journals. Miss Benson risks everything in a quest to New Caledonia. She's got a little of "Eleanor Oliphant is Just Fine" in her. Quirky characters accompany Benson on the transoceanic and transcontinental search. Jungle climates stupefy their journey and predators follow Benson with the unlikely companion, Enid, who joins her. The book reminds me of "Where Did You Go, Bernadette?" Rachel Joyce has written a mystery inside of the beetle quest, which on reflection, could have been smoother and more connected. Overall, though the book is highly entertaining. A great first effort!

Netgalley provided me with a pre published copy to review.

Miss Benson's Beetle is a light read highlighting unlikely friendship between two women who need each other in mysterious ways. Margery who is trying to escape her humdrum life and Enid who is trying to escape, too. It is a "feel good" book and I enjoyed their adventures to find the golden Caledonia beetle.

Miss Benson's Beetle is charming, quirky, and weaves the story of Marjory Benson, a lonely woman who decides to make her dream come true. She hires a French speaking companion to accompany her on a quest to find the Golden Beetle of New Caledonia. What!! If you like humor, adventure and you can relate to two traveling women who don't know each other and are complete opposites but become great friends..you will like this book. A terrific roller coaster of laughs and learning. Rachel Joyce does her best in describing New Caledonia and the insects and the science behind the treatment and keeping records of them.. I really liked this book and recommend it. Thank you to Net Galley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This book is reviewed in Goodreads.

I absolutely loved this engaging, joy-filled story shaded with moments of deep sadness.

Drab and downtrodden Miss Benson, whose life has been tainted by tragedy and disappointment, is teaching a domestic science class one day when she becomes aware that her students are cruelly mocking her. Something in her snaps. Unable to take anymore, she walks out of the classroom forever (and what teacher hasn't wanted to do that!) and vows to do whatever it takes to fulfill her long held dream of finding the elusive golden beetle of New Caledonia. Never mind that she's middle-aged and in bad shape, never mind that she isn't a scientist, never mind that she barely has enough funds for her expedition. She advertises for an assistant and thus meets Enid Pretty, the most unlikely naturalist's assistant you could imagine. Off they go by boat to Australia and then on to the exotic, often forbidding, rain forests of New Caledonia.

Rachel Joyce has such a gift for creating engaging characters that readers love root for.  Margery Benson and Enid Pretty are two of her best. I was completely absorbed in their life stories, their travails and losses and especially in their budding relationship.  I also loved the often madcap mood of this story which reminded me of one of my favourite movies "Some Like It Hot".

In fact, my only quibble with the book is with one aspect of the ending that I found disappointing and unnecessary. Nonetheless, highly recommended for lovers of up-lit. 4.5 stars.

It is rare that a new book crosses my path with such originality and captivating characters as "Miss Benson's Beetle". Miss Benson is one of those women who, if not for bad luck, would have no luck at all. She lost her adoring father in the worst way. She lived with depressive aunts until she left for a sad and depressing life. All along, she remembers this magical beetle her father told her about. And this journey to discover it leads her on a long journey of discovery alongside Miss Enid Pretty - the most unlikely of companions for her. This isn't the only story of that type of journey, but it is so original and clever. The characters are complex and rich and you will be sorry when the story is over.

All I knew about the book was that two women go on an adventure to find a beetle. I had no idea it would be so riveting, sad, thrilling and funny! I fell in love with these characters and their story told in an extremely vivid and heartfelt way.

When I started reading this, I began it disappointed because I thought I was in for 350 pages of a lady looking for a bug. Could not have been more wrong!
This book is about self discovery, opening yourself up to possibilities, having courage even when your terrified, trust, friendship, dealing with disappointment and so so much more.
Gets a tissue warning!!!
Beautifully written. Full of intrigue, humor, heart touching, the 2 main characters clash in all their glorious differences, making a pair of unlikely devoted friends in the end. All the wonderfully flawed characters are some of the best written I've seen in a while.

Have to give this one of my rare 5 stars!I

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher and author for an ARC of this book.The opinions expressed are my own.