Miss Benson’s Beetle is a delightful romp. Filled with humor, adventure and self-discovery. Similar to The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, this story is filled with memorable characters that will stick with you long after you finish reading.

Spoilers ahead:
While I loved the story and all of its quirky situations. I am not sure how I feel about making a POW the villain of the tale. His instability throughout the book made me sympathetic towards him, but at the same time made me very uncomfortable that he was clearly going to be the one who harmed someone in the end.

Other than my reservations about that plotline, I found the book to be quite enjoyable and would recommend to others. It was a great reminder that we should not give up on the hopes and dreams we have. Thank you Netgalley and Random House Publishing for the Advance Reader's Copy.

Thanks NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book. It’s the story of Margery, a lonely, 40 something year old woman who decides to upend her life in post-WW2 Britain and search for an elusive beetle that may or may reside on a remote island near Australia. She grudgingly hires an assistant, a perky, young dyed blonde who teaches Margery about life.

Stars: beautiful prose, light humor. Some great life lessons and reflections.

Wishes: this book was much more violent and sad than I had expected, and this disappointed me. I was hoping for more of a light book about female friendship but the story had so many sad moments and violent encounters it ruined it for me. Not my kind of book, but I believe readers who aren’t phased by those things will enjoy it.

So, I hate to type words like quirky, charming, unexpected, but there they are. This post WW II story of two women taking on the world, travelling to the far reaches of the South Pacific in pursuit of a mythic rare beetle. They learn about life, themselves, babies, madmen, and the power of discovery, both personal and scientific. It is well written, involving, and amusing, scary, irritating, and satisfying.

A heartwarming tale of two women coming together. Rachel Joyce does an incredible job of developing her characters even when we spend very little time with them or know only fuzzy details of their past. The progression of Margery and Enid’s relationship was a true joy to unfold. Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy.

3/5. "Miss Benson's Beetle" hits all the notes one would expect of a book touted as a fast-paced, zany odd-couple adventure, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading of Enid and Margery's adventures in beetle-hunting, purpose-finding, and friendship-forging. Though it drags in parts - the scenes with the former POW who stalks the two women all the way to New Caledonia seem extraneous - the story is captivating, heartwarming, and never quite lets you off your toes. It's impossible not to root for middle-aged washout/beetle aficionado Margery and slightly deranged but well-meaning Enid, and though I wished their quest to find the titular beetle would've gotten more attention, I liked watching their friendship develop, too. This one made for a fun armchair-travel read in a time of quarantine.

Oh, how I loved this book. I have never read anything like this before. Miss Benson is a woman who has dreamed of finding the Golden Beetle of New Caledonia all her life. She finally decides to embark on the trip of a lifetime- which is no small accomplishment. Her assistant on the trip is a very unlikely companion named Enid. With her bright clothes, blond hair, and huge personality, she is the opposite of Miss Benson in every way. This story is touching, endearing, funny and, at times, sad. It will leave you wondering why a beetle expedition isn't a more popular subject for books. Rachel Joyce is a wonderful writer and this book did not disappoint. Thank you NetGalley for my copy of this book. All thoughts are my own.

Ms Joyce is rapidly approaching the title of my favorite author. Short and quirky, easily read and so charming! The perfect little book for these days!

This was my first Rachel Joyce book, but I seem to recall from plot summaries that some of her other work includes quests of various kinds. Here, the titular Miss Benson goes on an expedition to find the titular beetle. Margery Benson and her sidekick, Enid Pretty, are so much larger than life that the book tilts towards the character-driven even as they tilt at windmills in a plot-heavy arc. Though it’s in a different key, I would recommend it to readers of The Signature of All Things. Given the time period, I can also see suggesting it to readers of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, and possibly even fans of Kate Atkinson.

I had very mixed feelings about the last 1/10 of the story, but willingly followed Enid and Margery for the first 9/10 (which says a lot, seeing as they traveled to the other side of the world).

This is such a lovely book. It draws you in instantly. The plot is very interesting and the characters are charming, quirky, and unforgettable.

Dial Press has recently relaunched with 2020 being its first year to have a full book list. What sets this imprint apart not only in its mission, but in words straight from its editorial director’s mouth, is that it strives to publish “books driven by the heart” written by impactful women who have a story that needs to be told and that will each leave their own unique mark.
Wow — hearing that, who wouldn’t want to either be on that list or read a book from it!? Well, I have just read one: Rachel Joyce’s MISS BENSON’S BEETLE. In this book, we follow two British women, who could not be any more different in every way, as they travel on an adventure to New Caledonia in search of the elusive golden beetle. This small ‘gold soft winged flower beetle’ shares the same flaw as staggering Bigfoot and so many other creatures who are rumored of and purportedly sighted (in this beetle’s case by even Darwin himself), in that they have never been proven to exist and be officially recognized by the Natural History Museum.
As we follow along their madcap journey across the South Pacific we begin to possibly speculate why the author may have chosen the humble beetle as their treasure waiting to be discovered. Although beetles on first thought might seem quite plain or small; upon further research they are wondrous in their infinitely different identifying characteristics as well as being the biggest species, making up to 25% of all animals. Symbolically people may underestimate women and view them as insignificant, from the two women on these pages to the ones reading this book, yet upon closer inspection they are revealed to also be magnificent and quite surprising.
Joyce’s writing style also has some of that same appeal in the vivid imagery and descriptions she crafts of her characters. For example, when she describes one of the main characters, Enid Pretty (check out that name?!), it is so well done that I had a mental image of her as The Hunger Game’s Effie Trinket. And if there is a movie adaptation I can also picture it in the distinct style of Wes Anderson or as in the film HUGO.
Finally, there is a third main character in the book, PTSD stricken Mr. Mundic, who despite having central roles in the book - saving a life and taking a life, is completely overshadowed by and is unable to stop these two passionate female explorers each chasing their own vocations.

If this book interests you and you would like to virtually travel to far flung New Caledonia with Marjory and Enid, and see what it is that grabs your heart to make it a ‘Dial Press’ worthy book -

Tentative On Sale: 11/24/20
Publication Month: Dec 2020

#MissBensonsBeetle #NetGalley

Another wonderful book by Rachel Joyce!! Loved the characters with all their flaws and quirks wrapped in an improbable, but very enjoyable and heartwarming story

Margery Benson, fictional character, represents a ground-breaking woman who sets on a journey across the world to find an elusive golden beetle of New Caledonia. With her assistant, polar opposite, they also break grounds in getting to know each other and creating an endearing friendship. Written with phenomenal humor.

London, 1914. Ten year old Margery doesn’t share her father’s love for insects until he introduces her to the golden beetle of New Caledonia. No one has found and cataloged it yet. So it may or may not exist.

1950. Miss Benson is a teacher and she has just become a school joke. She has had enough. She is forty-seven years old. It’s now or never. She is going to fulfill her life’s passion and dream. She is going to New Caledonia in search of the elusive golden beetle. After picking an assistant for her trip to the other side of the world, the story goes back in time and reveals how her passion for beetles continued when she was young. “Beetles she understood. It was people who had become strange.”

With her assistant they make a rather peculiar pair. Margery not much of a talker, Enid nonstop-talkative. “By the time they reached Tilbury, she felt murderous. If she could have killed her, quietly and without anyone noticing, she would have.” Margery is reserved, Enid excitable. Margery would rather talk to beetles than men, Enid can put on a saucy talk whenever needed. Margery is serious about expedition, Enid doesn’t think it hurts to have some fun. Now, Margery wonders if Enid is an entirely stable person.

The island of New Caledonia was discovered by Captain Cook in 1774. “One hundred years later, Napoleon ordered the annexation of the island as a penal colony. (…) The island’s history is not a happy one.” But the beauty of the island is undeniable with palms lining the beaches and crystal clear waters.

Once on the island, they get serious: slicing through undergrowth, laying insect traps, examining “dead leaves, fallen branches, rotten logs, pig droppings.” When Margery is about to give up, Enid doesn’t let her. Now, their differences seem to be dissolving. And sometimes, Enid still surprises Margery, “the way she could look into the air and come out with a piece of wisdom.”

These deeply human characters show us that even with their differences they can learn from each other and create a deep bond. Margery is always conscious of her physical appearance, tall and a bit limp with one leg. With shortages after the war, her clothes are not that attractive, making her a joke target of young kids at school. Enid is attractive, and so not ready for an adventure in the wild. But she is wild herself, unpredictable and completely illogical. However, the life’s obstacles along their journey, when they need each other, bond them despite their differences.

This saucy story also offers a questionable character, a scandal, a natural disaster, and above all an uplifting friendship, written with so much humanity and humor. It made me laugh out loud many times.

This beautifully and flawlessly written story is one of the most enjoyable and heart-warming stories I have ever read.

It took me a bit to get into this book. I feel it is too long, but it comes together. While I wasn’t crazy about the story, I do now want to see New Caledonia and hike through it’s wilderness and sit on its beaches. This is a story about an unlikely duo who overcome many impossible obstacles to follow a dream. It takes a while to come up with a reason to like Margery or understand Enid. I wanted to keep reading after halfway just to see if they could do it but the first have was a struggle to get through.

I absolutely chose this book because of its cover and I have no regrets.

Disguised as a historical adventure, Miss Benson's Beetle is a bit like an old Hollywood movie, comically absurd with everything that can possibly go wrong doing so. Unlike those old films there is a hidden depth to the story with the characters experiencing and dealing with the repercussions of suicide, ptsd and mental health, homosexuality and pregnancy out of wedlock, along with several other lesser (but no less valid) traumas. It sounds like a lot but it somehow all comes together in a beautifully tumultuous journey. Miss Benson sets out to find a Golden Beetle to honor her father but among the flora and fauna of the tropics she finds much more; freedom, forgiveness, friendship and eventually family.

The intentional dissonance between the bordering-on-twee style and the rather serious themes (which include suicide and a former POW's post-traumatic stress) makes "Miss Benson's Beetle" unexpectedly affecting and unlike anything I can recall reading recently. At times I thought the former POW's issues in particular were treated too glibly, solely as a source of humor. As the story continues, though, the tone almost imperceptibly changes. Characters who were originally seen solely as figures of fun or of pity reveal their depths, and the relationship between the two main characters, Margery and Enid, evolves beautifully. Much of the prose is beautiful too, in a nonshowy way; the description of a baby's "good intention of a nose" is perfection. And though I loathe the tropics, even I entertained thoughts of visiting New Caledonia after reading this.

Thank you, NetGalley and Random House/Dial Press, for sending me an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

"Now where is your gumption?"

This novel read like a pop-up book, pure delight! The magnificence of the character development of the strong female leads created arc that gripped both your emotions and funny bone. Joyce blends humor and raw emotional development/reflection in a fresh perspective through Margery and Enid's friendship.

The post-WWII timeline of the novel provides a setting distinct from many historical fiction novels that focus on life and loss during wartime. The author does not forsake the harsh realities of postwar trauma but, instead, portrays the grotesque subtlety. Her charming characters and realistic heartaches join together, urging the reader to suspend time and adventure with Margery and Enid.

The beautifully developed theme of unlikely friendship in "Miss Benson's Beetle" is just one of the many elements that make this book so difficult to put down! I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys heartfelt realistic fiction, novels about personal growth, adventures, or true friendship. A must-read.

This is my first book by Rachel Joyce. I enjoyed the characters and how they were developed as the book went along. I loved Margery and was cheering for her the whole way through!

This book covered the full emotional spectrum for me., Parts were very sad and other parts made me chuckle. Even though I felt the last few chapters were a bit rushed I finished this book feeling happy that I read it. I really liked how the author ended with the Freya chapter and brought things around full circle.

Thank you to Random House, the author and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy of this book.

This is really good literature. Excellent character creation and development, a good plot, and nice pacing. There's humor, adventure, and lots more. The many characters are interesting and varied. An engaging read, well told. Recommended.

Thanks very much for the ARC for review!!

I wasn't sure what to expect with this book. I haven't read any of the author's previous books and was intrigued by the cover and the blurb. Well, I wasn't disappointed! What a lovely story that really brought out many emotions and introduced unforgettable characters. This book was like nothing I have ever read and I enjoyed the author's description of place and the round characters. This a very enjoyable read and I highly recommend it. Thank you so much to the publisher and to NetGalley for the ARC.

<I> Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an eARC of this novel via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</I>

Another phenomenal Joyce novel that left me feeling battered and spent from enduring a story that is simply an emotional whirlwind. On the surface <U>Miss Benson's Beetle</u> brings together a colourful cast of complex characters in search of the elusive golden beetle of New Caledonia, but this work was so much more than that. No review can do it justice. Every chapter held a new twist, delved into a further explanation of why individual characters decided to make the choices they did, adding depth and connection to the story. I could not stop thinking about this book, could not put it down. It tugged at my heartstrings. It destroyed me in the most delicious way possible. I will have a book hangover for weeks from this one. If you enjoy Joyce's previous works you will not be disappointed by this one.