“Miss Benson’s Beetle” by Rachel Joyce

Title: Miss Benson’s Beetle
Author: Rachel Joyce   
Publisher:  The Dial Press   
Year: 2020    
Genre(s): historical fiction, adventure
Part of a Series: No

Rating: 

Why I Read it: Once Upon a Book Club selection

Summary: With World War II over, teacher Margery Benson decides to abandon her career and finally pursue her dream of proving the existence of the golden beetle of New Caledonia. She buys the gear, books passage to the other side of the world and engages the services of Ms. Enid Pretty as an assistant. As they journey to New Caledonia, both Margery and Enid take another journey that could change them forever.

Review: This book had its ups and downs, during which I struggled to finish it. But I finally managed. And hopefully I didn’t set myself back too much with my reading goal for this year.

I think the part I disliked most were chapters focused on Mundic. While he illustrated how the horrors of war affected those who lived through them, he really didn’t add anything to the story. I think he could’ve been cut out and nothing would’ve been lost. The ending could’ve been achieved another way. And that’s all I’ll say on that to avoid spoilers.

Margery and Enid were more than enough to carry the book, though I did enjoy some of the little aside chapters that were not Mundic. They did add to the story rather than detract so I appreciated them.

Margery is our primary narrator as we almost never get any part from Enid’s point of view but that’s okay. I think she works best being viewed from others rather than hearing from her directly. And Margery is a pretty good character to follow. We see her grow from someone who couldn’t even stand up to the girls in her school despite being an adult to someone who survived the jungles of New Caledonia. She finds herself and it was a great journey to follow.

Enid is a fun character who clearly should not be judged by her appearance. She is resourceful and strong, a good companion for Margery (no matter how much Margery disagrees at first). Enid also has her secrets and while they are a little easy to guess, it doesn’t really detract from her as a character.

And as I said, they really complemented each other well. They were a great duo together and it was fun to read about their growing friendship.

Joyce did a good job of creating atmosphere, though I do wish New Caledonia became more of a character than it did. But I still could picture their tropical setting based on Joyce’s writing so props to her for that.

Bottom line: A most fun read that probably could’ve used a few more edits.

Sex: Not really.

Moonlight Musing

Would you give up everything to pursue an impossible dream?