I am NOT a bug lover ( understatement of the year). This book has ascertained that Rachel Joyce is an author whom I will always read, no matter the subject matter, as she has proven that she can capture my attention with her brilliant characters. This wonderful novel is set to publish on November 24, 2020 and I can’t wait to share it with EVERYONE!

The characters of Marjorie Benson and Enid Pretty were well developed and told with humour and passion. Marjorie was a large 47-year-old spinster, very prim and proper, reserved, self-conscious, and both physically and socially awkward. The story begins with Marjorie trying to teach her class of unruly, disruptive girls. They are passing around a drawing making fun of her appearance. Humiliated, she walks out of the school after stealing a pair of boots. I loved when the women went swimming- floating on their bellies- naked noodle skinny dipping — with the water gracefully holding them - nourishing them - as water can do. Margery Benson is dull, a school teacher to horrible children, and a spinster (oh I DO take issue with this as she is younger than me, but I digress...ha). One day something happens at school and she just snaps. She walks out, er, runs out of the school stealing a pair of boots from the school mistress. Too funny. While a child, Margery, learned about animals and especially the golden beetle of New Caladonia. She thinks, THIS is it, time for me to make the journey, half way across the world to find the golden beetle. She places an ad in the paper for an assistant and after a few bumbled attempts to get one, ends up with one Enid Pretty. Enid is nothing like Margery. She's loud, half her age, blonde hair, pink skimpy clothes, and brash. And so begins the story of these two unlikely women who have absolutely nothing in common but in the end become the best of friends and each learns life lessons from the other. And oh yeah, there is the beetle they are searching for which may or may not exist. I’ve loved Miss Joyce’s previous books and this one is no exception. To paraphrase my review of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry: We all have baggage and lose our way at times, but it’s never too late to change and we need to both give and accept help along the way.Q: Both Miss Benson’s Beetle and Harold Fry gave me a sort of comfort and courage that it’s all right to start anew at any stage of life, to set out to find yourself, to go outside your comfort zone, and to make mistakes. Is that a theme you intentionally want your readers to take away from your books? Enid and Margery take a cruise on their way to New Caledonia. On the cruise, Enid has a miscarriage. Margery has a fear of blood and faints in the hallway. Mr Mundic, who followed them onto the cruise, brings her to the infirmary. She has decided now is the time to go on the quest for the golden beetle if she’s ever going to do it. She interviews for an assistant as she will need help with the work and needs someone who speaks French. Who she ultimately ends up with is far from what she had in mind! Rachel Joyce: Yes. I think it is. I think it's part of the need for us to keep trying to understand what we don't know. To keep pushing boundaries. And mistakes are so important. As I meant to say earlier - but failed to (another mistake!) - I make so many mistakes in my writing. It is only by exploring what doesn't work that I find what might. The story really starts in 1914 when her father is showing her a book called “Incredible Creatures”. There were so many curiosities in this book, Margery could not get enough of it. But the creature that she is most captivated with is the golden beetle of New Caledonia. The reader doesn’t really know if all of these creatures really exist, but in Margery’s mind she had already decided that someday she would see this golden beetle.

Q: This isn’t really a question but I just wanted to say that Enid made me love and appreciate life and be more grateful for everything. Thanks for writing such a lively and brilliant character! ❤ These deeply human characters show us that even with their differences they can learn from each other and create a deep bond. Margery is always conscious of her physical appearance, tall and a bit limp with one leg. With shortages after the war, her clothes are not that attractive, making her a joke target of young kids at school. Enid is attractive, and so not ready for an adventure in the wild. But she is wild herself, unpredictable and completely illogical. However, the life’s obstacles along their journey, when they need each other, bond them despite their differences.

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I absolutely loved this book from its early scenes of Marjorie failing to control her classroom to its very satisfying conclusion years later. I would like to see this as a TV series but it would probably be too expensive to produce. We’re taken on a long voyage across the sea and across the world to New Caledonia. The adventures and situations that Margery and Enid encounter are at times hilarious and other times you may feel tears. I will leave you with a quote from the book that I loved “Enid had been right. She had been right all along. Margery’s adventure was not about making her mark on the world: it was about letting the world make it’s mark on her.”

They made a ridiculous pair, as they chased the porter, like a brown ostrich coupled with a pink-hatted canary”.stars for this incredible surprise of a novel! I pretty much went into this book blind. I’ve never read this author but there was so much buzz around Goodreads that I had to grab it. I am so glad I did! If you like an adventure and well-developed characters, this is the book for you. Q: Many of your central characters are idiosyncratic outsiders, ordinary people who make for very unlikely heroes. Why do you choose to make such characters your protagonists? She experienced the dense feeling.....as if she was always on the other side of a flawed glass wall and seeing the truth way after it was too late.'