Book Review - Miss Benson's Beetle; Rachel Joyce and Sunday Catch-Up

 

Happy Easter to those who celebrate. In normal times I'd host a dinner or brunch but, since part of our family hasn't been eligible for vaccination yet (soon though) we will skip the family get-together for one more Easter.  I was able to see (2) of my granddaughters at our house earlier in the week to give them their presents so that was a nice treat.  Do you have any plans for Easter?

On the vaccination front, both my husband and I are fully vaccinated. I got my second dose of the Moderna vaccine on Friday and the only real side effect has been extreme fatigue but, of course, I just don't sleep well anymore either.  Our first real restaurant dining will be in early May for our anniversary which we will be looking forward to.   For those of you who are fully vaccinated, did you or your family have any side effects?

Hope you all have a great week - and now for my review of Miss Benson's Beetle which I had finished the end of March.

 

TITLE/AUTHOR:  Miss Benson's Beetle; Rachel Joyce

PUBLISHER: Dial Press

YEAR PUBLISHED: 2020

GENRE: Fiction / Historical / Womens

FORMAT:  eGalley /LENGTH: 368 pages

SOURCE: Net Galley

SETTING(s):  England; South Pacific (New Caledonia)

ONE SENTENCE SUMMARY:  A lonely woman's quest to find the elusive "golden beetle."

BRIEF REVIEW:  Margery Benson 46, is an awkward, plain, middle-aged woman who has never married.  She taught home economics to rude, disrespectful, teenaged girls but, after an incident where she was mocked and laughed at Margery's decided she has had enough.  Since childhood, she has had an obsession with beetles so she decides it is time that she takes a chance and pursue her passion and quest of the elusive "golden beetle."

She decides she will need an assistant for her journey to the South Pacific so she places an ad and does some interviews. She ends up with her last choice,  the younger, flashy, talkative, Enid Pretty - her polar opposite in every way.  They make a crazy pair but embark on an outlandish adventure and face many obstacles along the way including a stalker-like antagonist who suffered from PTSD.

With a combination of both light-heart, laughable moments to more serious situations, this is a story that also has some difficult themes like childhood trauma, abusive relationships and PTSD.  A very unusual story to say the least.  I loved how eccentric and charming the women were and how a real caring friendship developed between them. I did think the antagonist character with PTSD seemed unnecessary to the overall story but, despite that I enjoyed this quirky and touching story.

RATING:  4/5 stars

MEMORABLE QUOTES: 

"They made a ridiculous pair, as they chased the porter, like a brown ostrich coupled with a pink-hatted canary."

"You might have traveled to the other side of the world, but in the end it made no difference: whatever devastating unhappiness was inside of you would come too."