Miss Benson’s Beetle by Rachel Joyce
WINNER OF THE WILBUR SMITH ADVENTURE WRITING PRIZE | BEST PUBLISHED NOVEL
WOMAN & HOME BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR and A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
‘The perfect escape novel for our troubled times.’ PATRICK GALE
DESCRIPTION
It is 1950. London is still reeling from World War II, and Margery Benson, a schoolteacher and spinster, is trying to get through life, surviving on scraps. One day, she reaches her breaking point, abandoning her job and small existence to set out on an expedition to the other side of the world in search of her childhood obsession: an insect that may or may not exist–the golden beetle of New Caledonia. When she advertises for an assistant to accompany her, the woman she ends up with is the last person she had in mind. Fun-loving Enid Pretty in her tight-fitting pink suit and pom-pom sandals seems to attract trouble wherever she goes. But together these two British women find themselves drawn into a cross-ocean adventure that exceeds all expectations and delivers something neither of them expected to find: the transformative power of friendship.
The audiobook version is narrated by Juliet Stevenson
This book will be discussed at our meeting on 20 June 2022
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1 Comment
Lee Jane Hawkes · 06/25/2022 at 11:47 am
A throughly good read, really enjoyed the story line which was so very different and bitter sweet. A journey of not only discovering beetles but if friendship and their true selves.