Miss Benson's Beetle
An uplifting story of female friendship against the odds
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4.4 • 157 Ratings
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- £3.99
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- £3.99
Publisher Description
WINNER OF THE WILBUR SMITH ADVENTURE WRITING PRIZE | BEST PUBLISHED NOVEL
WOMAN & HOME BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR and A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
'The perfect escape novel for our troubled times.' PATRICK GALE
It is 1950. In a devastating moment of clarity, Margery Benson abandons her dead-end job and advertises for an assistant to accompany her on an expedition. She is going to travel to the other side of the world to search for a beetle that may or may not exist.
Enid Pretty, in her unlikely pink travel suit, is not the companion Margery had in mind. And yet together they will be drawn into an adventure that will exceed every expectation. They will risk everything, break all the rules, and at the top of a red mountain, discover their best selves.
This is a story that is less about what can be found than the belief it might be found; it is an intoxicating adventure story but it is also about what it means to be a woman and a tender exploration of a friendship that defies all boundaries.
'A girl's own adventure...This is Rachel Joyce's best book yet ...Exciting, moving and full of unexpected turns.' THE TIMES
'Brilliant and elegant and wise...powerful and moving...I can't recommend it enough.' JOANNA CANNON
'A beautiful portrayal of female friendship in all its frailties, contradictions and strengths.' RAYNOR WINN
WOMAN & HOME BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2020; DAILY MAIL BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2020; BOOKMARK BOOK OF THE YEAR 2020; GOOD HOUSEKEEPING BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2020
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Joyce's sparkling latest (after The Music Shop) pops with grit, resilience, and the power of friendship. It's 1950, and 46-year-old Margery Benson teaches domestic science to girls in a London school. Having been humiliated one too many times in her 20-year stint teaching, a demeaning sketch of her by a student captioned, "The Virgin Margery!" is the catalyst that changes her life: she leaves the school with a pair of stolen lacrosse boots, returns to her lonely existence in her deceased aunt's flat, and puts an advertisement in the paper for a French-speaking assistant to travel with her to New Caledonia, where she intends to find a mythical golden beetle. The adventure is sparked by a memory of her father showing her a picture of the beetle in a book called Imaginary Creatures, full of "many incredible extra creatures in the world, and nobody had found a single one of them." Enter Enid Pretty, Margery's polar opposite: young, beautiful, petite, and headstrong. During their travels in New Caledonia, each woman faces uncomfortable truths about herself and the other, and both eschew traditional women's expectations in their own way to celebrate their true selves. Joyce's graceful touch and cutting humor undercut the potential for mawkishness and give the characters a rich complexity and depth. With a plucky protagonist and plenty of action, this is a winner.
Customer Reviews
Good read but a little far fetched!
I wanted to keep going to find out what happened to the characters and enjoyed the descriptions but I thought some threads of the story were a bit unbelievable.
Wonderful!
A life affirming story of friendship. Tragic and funny in equal part I loved the characters and will miss them dearly...surely the measure of the best books.
Most unlikely story
An excellent read. Amazing, happy, and sad. Compelling.
A very different story