Miss Benson's Beetle by Rachel Joyce
London, 1914. Ten year old Margery doesn’t share her father’s love for insects until he introduces her to the golden beetle of New Caledonia. No one has found it yet and cataloged. So it may or may not exist.
1950. Miss Benson is a teacher and she has just become a school joke. She has had enough. She is forty-seven years old. It’s now or never. She is going to fulfill her life’s passion and dream. She is going to New Caledonia in search of the elusive golden beetle. After picking an assistant for her trip to the other side of the world, the story goes back in time and reveals how her passion for beetles continued when she was young. “Beetles she understood. It was people who had become strange.”
With her assistant they make a rather peculiar pair. Margery not much of a talker, Enid nonstop-talkative. “By the time they reached Tilbury, she felt murderous. If she could have killed her, quietly and without anyone noticing, she would have.” Margery is reserved, Enid excitable. Margery would rather talk to beetles than men, Enid can put on a saucy talk whenever needed. Margery is serious about expedition, Enid doesn’t think it hurts to have some fun. Now, Margery wonders if Enid is an entirely stable person.
The island of New Caledonia was discovered by Captain Cook in 1774. “One hundred years later, Napoleon ordered the annexation of the island as a penal colony. (…) The island’s history is not a happy one.” But the beauty of the island is undeniable with palms lining the beaches and crystal clear waters.
Once on the island, they get serious: slicing through undergrowth, laying insect traps, examining “dead leaves, fallen branches, rotten logs, pig droppings.” When Margery is about to give up, Enid doesn’t let her. Now, their differences seem to be dissolving. And sometimes, Enid still surprises Margery, “the way she could look into the air and come out with a piece of wisdom.”
These deeply human characters show us how their differences helped them learn from each other and create a deep bond. Margery was 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.
This saucy story also offers a questionable character, a scandal, a natural disaster, and above all an uplifting friendship, written with so much humanity and humor. It made me laugh out loud many times.
This beautifully and flawlessly written story is one of the most enjoyable and heart-warming stories I have ever read.
"How vital it is to learn what we have in the world before it is too late." - Be it a beetle or a friendship or something else - go and get it before it's gone.
Release date: 3 November 2020
Source: Dial Press; Penguin Random House
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