Miss Benson's Beetle by Rachel Joyce

 genre: historical fiction

When forty-something year old Margery decides that she is going to leave her predicable post WW2 English life and go off to New Caledonia to find the golden beetle, she knows she can’t do it alone. The companion she chooses and the journey she takes will be the catalyst that changes the trajectory of not only Margery’s future, but also her expectations for the kind of woman she’s capable of becoming.

Who’d have thought I’d love this book so much? At its heart, it is a friendship story and it is a coming-to-know-yourself story. It’s about big dreams and owning your own path enough to acknowledge you have the power to change it. The two main characters are nuanced and the arc of their friendship is delightful. There is pain, too, there are consequences for decisions made and a secondary plot to keep the narrative moving forward that I didn’t like quite as much but I think I understand why it’s necessary. It also really is about beetles and jungle exploring and being stripped down to the essence of what you think you are strong enough to handle. The flow was great, I didn't even mind that I saw the ending before it came and the banter was really well written. I was just heartily entertained by this book.