Miss Benson's Beetle is a curious novel with some very serious themes. It was chosen as the June selection for the book club and met with mixed reviews at the book discussion. Moments of sheer humor and joy were countered with the tragedy of loss and despair.
As a young child Margery Benson was fascinated as her father shared with her a book on beetles. She was intrigued by the Golden Beetle of New Caledonia, which no one had been able to find. Fast forward 30 years and she is a frumpy spinster domestic science teacher at a private school. She had lost her brothers to World War I, her father to suicide after he learned of their deaths. At that point she was raised by her mother and two aunts, who in 1950, the time of the novel, had all passed away. After an incident in one of her classes where she intercepted a student's note calling her "Virgin Margery." she decides to take matters into her hands and set off in search of the Golden Beetle. She posts an ad for someone to accompany her on the journey and expedition. After meeting the responders, she dismisses them, especially a Mr. Mundic, a former POW, who seems to have some serious issues probably from suffering from PTSD. In the end she decided on a woman, Enid Pretty, who could not spell and whom she never met.
The two women begin their journey in a comedic and nearly unbelievable way from the train station outside London to the ocean liner, Orion, to Brisbane and then New Caledonia. It is then on to the quest for the Golden Beetle, referenced by Darwin, but never found by him or other scientists. From the very beginning there is something extremely suspicious about Enid Pretty who is quite protective of a red valise with the initials N.C. on it. Through sea sickness, lost luggage, missing equipment, eels, cyclones, and a spiteful consulate's wife, the two persevere and become better friends than either could have imagined. Enter Mr. Mundic into the equation and the situation becomes more suspenseful and traumatic.
In the end, the reader is impressed by the growth and resilience of the two women as they survive in the jungles of New Caledonia. The women realize early on that they are on their own and do not owe anything to men, a truly feminist theme throughout. Margery does not want to be that woman who waits hand over foot on men. She is feeling her own worth, as many women started to do in the post-war years. She had a dream and she meant to fulfill it at all costs. Rachel Joyce gives Margery Benson the fortitude to be a "woman who is ready for adventure. I’m not here because I am someone's wife or sister. I am here because this is what I want, and now I have a place for my work." With the strength of writing and development of each of the main characters' personalities, it is not likely that a reader will forget Margery and Enid, almost as a movie goer will not forget Thelma and Louise.
