Miss Benson’s Beetle is a novel by bestselling author Rachel Joyce, published in 2020. It was winner of the Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize and was an international bestseller.
I’m definitely in the minority when I admit that I didn’t enjoy The Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce. It was such a popular novel and always seems to receive rave reviews but it just didn’t do it for me. I therefore didn’t feel compelled to seek out any more of Rachel Joyce’s books.
However, I’d heard so many positive things about Miss Benson’s Beetle that I decided to put my misgivings to one side and give it a try, especially as it was a historical novel which I tend to prefer.
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Plot
As a child, Margery Benson is introduced by her father to an encyclopedia full of incredible creatures. It’s here she first reads about the Golden Beetle of New Caledonia. Margery dreams about being the first to capture and document the golden beetle for the Natural History Museum.
However, as the decades pass, Margery lives a rather miserable life and works as a teacher, a job she hates. It is now 1950 and Margery is a 40-something-year-old woman who has quite simply had enough of the life she is living. In a moment of clarity, she decides to abandon her job and set off on an expedition to find the Golden Beetle.
She knows she can’t do this alone and so advertises for an assistant to help her. This is when Margery meets Enid, an unlikely companion, and the mismatched pair head off on their adventure.
Miss Benson’s Beetle Book Review
What a gorgeous book! I thoroughly enjoyed it. I don’t know what I was expecting from the book but it certainly wasn’t the emotional punch it delivered.
The book became less about the expedition and more about the power of female friendship. I loved Enid and Margery’s unlikely bond and how they both had such an impact on the other’s life. Enid provided some much-needed humour and fun into Margery’s previously dull life, while Margery offered compassion and stability to an often flighty and unpredictable Enid. I loved how Margery’s confidence grew the more time she spent with Enid.
The book was full of detail and descriptions of New Caledonia but it’s done in such a way that it never feels boring or repetitive. Rachel Joyce masterfully transports readers to the mid-20th Century weaving a tale of adventure and self-discovery that captures the spirit of the era.
The story was a proper adventure, full of twists and unexpected turns. It’s a book that made me both laugh and cry. It wasn’t a fast-paced thriller and yet I found myself holding my breath during several key moments.
I definitely enjoyed this book far more than I expected to and it was a pleasant surprise to become so engrossed in such strong, female characters.
What should I read after Miss Benson’s Beetle?
If you enjoyed Miss Benson’s Beetle, you may also enjoy Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus, Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt and A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman.
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