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A review by jensreadinglife
Miss Benson's Beetle by Rachel Joyce
5.0
“It struck her again: a life was such a short thing. All those things people carried, and struggled to carry, yet one day they would disappear, and so would the suffering inside them, and all that would be left was this. The trees, the moon, the dark.”
In London in 1950, Margery Benson is going through the motions of living a life, mostly alone, as an unhappy and unfulfilled schoolteacher when an event prompts her to steal a pair of boots, quit her job and fulfill her lifelong dream of finding the golden beetle of New Caledonia. She places an ad for an assistant to travel with her and she ends up with the brassy and boisterous, Enid Pretty. They are as unlikely companions as one would expect and Margery is appalled at her so-called assistant’s behavior from the moment she sees her. It feels like disaster is imminent and yet these two women, as opposite from one another as they could be, begin to forge a path together and learn things about each other, and themselves, that they never would have imagined.
This story was so delightful. I will admit that it took me a bit to warm up to Margery (and Enid too). And I wasn’t quite sure how the events that were unfolding were eventually going to play out. But this book is such a fun, heartwarming and wild ride. I laughed out loud multiple times and held my breath through some of the crazy adventures Margery and Enid found themselves having as they forged a unique life for themselves and found friendship where they never expected. And as the end of the story drew near, and the denouement that I knew was coming but was hoping didn’t have to happen did happen, I found myself with big tears rolling down my cheeks. Tears of joy at this world and these two women and their friendship that Rachel Joyce created and tears of sorrow because I didn’t want to have to leave them. I can’t think of a better endorsement than that.
In London in 1950, Margery Benson is going through the motions of living a life, mostly alone, as an unhappy and unfulfilled schoolteacher when an event prompts her to steal a pair of boots, quit her job and fulfill her lifelong dream of finding the golden beetle of New Caledonia. She places an ad for an assistant to travel with her and she ends up with the brassy and boisterous, Enid Pretty. They are as unlikely companions as one would expect and Margery is appalled at her so-called assistant’s behavior from the moment she sees her. It feels like disaster is imminent and yet these two women, as opposite from one another as they could be, begin to forge a path together and learn things about each other, and themselves, that they never would have imagined.
This story was so delightful. I will admit that it took me a bit to warm up to Margery (and Enid too). And I wasn’t quite sure how the events that were unfolding were eventually going to play out. But this book is such a fun, heartwarming and wild ride. I laughed out loud multiple times and held my breath through some of the crazy adventures Margery and Enid found themselves having as they forged a unique life for themselves and found friendship where they never expected. And as the end of the story drew near, and the denouement that I knew was coming but was hoping didn’t have to happen did happen, I found myself with big tears rolling down my cheeks. Tears of joy at this world and these two women and their friendship that Rachel Joyce created and tears of sorrow because I didn’t want to have to leave them. I can’t think of a better endorsement than that.