Miss Benson's Beetle by Rachel Joyce

Miss Benson's Beetle by Rachel Joyce
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read and loved this illuminating book as part of my Albright College Zoom book discussion. The connecting stories of Margery Benson and Enid Pretty together searching for a gold beetle across the world in New Caledonia (outside Australia) during the aftermath of the war in the 1950s was a journey for both women, utterly opposite in every way. Yet both women change and grow as they travel, run away from their secrets in London, and strike out to prove they can find/make a new life on an expedition. Rachel Joyce's well developed characterization of the many women in this book is authentic and suspenseful as women who have predetermined roles and those who strike out and create new roles. Also important is the author interview of Margery and Enid at the end of the book and Joyce's acknowledgments. A must read that will warm your heart at the enduring love that friendship garners.

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