A review by koreanlinda
Miss Benson's Beetle by Rachel Joyce

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0



What drew me to this book was the hot pink and golden yellow cover with an illustration of two women walking side by side. This matched the experience I got to witness in the book: bright and intense; a journey of two women; and their companionship. One difference is that Margery (Miss Benson) and Enid rarely walked together; they ran, drove, rode, crawl, and scramble. Their adventure was physically demanding and emotionally taxing. What got them through it all was each other, the essence of the story. 

I have little interest in beetles. I know they are fascinating, but I don't spend time learning about them. I am actually an entomophobia, who whimpers at the sight of bugs anywhere in arm's reach. However, this story made it easy for me to understand how Margery became so invested in finding the beetle of her dream. Rachel Joyce's such mastery of writing extends to all major and supporting characters: superstitious serial-thief runaway, destructive POW, jealous wife of British consul, etc. Even the characters from Margery's pasts are complex and sympathized: stoic mother and disinterested aunts. Joyce's goal in developing characters is not making them likable; she is rather focused on showing how a person becomes who they are in a "real" life. 

The readers would not get satisfaction by finding likable characters but by traveling with Margery and Enid through a series of challenges. You inevitable end up rooting for them in each turn of events, holding your breath, and reassuring yourself with the chunk of remaining pages.

The journey achieves not just one goal but a bunch of more meaningful ones: discovery of authentic self, self love, love for others, true friendship, act of kindness, and healing from trauma. Joyce excels in showing how different traumas manifest in different people. Here are a few quotes on that topic: 

“You might travel to the other side of the world, but in the end it made no difference: whatever devastating unhappiness was inside you would come too.” 
“But war was not over just because someone signed a truce. It was inside him. And when a thing like war was inside you, it never left.” 
“He put everything back in his haversack, but he didn't know what to do with the things from the past. He had no idea where you were supposed to put things that existed only inside your head.” 

At the end, some characters succeed in overcoming their hardship and some do not. Overall, the story is filled with female characters who are passionate, determined, loving, adaptive, and audacious. This is why I would recommend this book to girls and young women, despite most characters being adults. As Enid says, “We are not the things that happened to us. We can be what we like.”

Trigger warnings (without much graphic details): suicide, stalking, assault, violence in wars and prisons

Review by Linda (she/they)
Twitter @KoreanLinda
Letter writer at DefinitelyNotOkay.com 
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