The two attract a menacing character, who is sad more than evil. He’s a POW from WWII, and Joyce does a fabulous job of reminding the reader of the horrors of war, both economicly and emotionally. This character adds a dramatic feel. And if you find a friend along the way, even in the most unlikeliest of places, it’s a precious thing to be held close to your heart. Many characters carry with them the damage of conflict – from Margery, who lost her father and brothers because of the first world war, to her bizarre stalker Mr Mundic, a traumatised former PoW, to the delightfully mean character Mrs Pope, the consul’s wife, who resents our two heroines because “they had found a way to be themselves”. Q: How do you write from the perspective of difficult and broken characters such as Mr.Mundic and how do you imagine their struggle? The book runs like a movie. I am there. I am in the jungle. Tarzan could be around the corner. I see the trees, the snakes, the bugs, and the bug bites. The characters are real. I see their clothes and hair. I hear them talk, I see them walk. (I feel like I’m about to make up a Dr. Seuss story, lol, so I’ll stop now!)

Forgive this review being too long - just read it - if you haven’t - it’s wonderful —- and this review was equally for my own completion benefit - than anything else.

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Margery speaks no French and advertised for a French-speaking assistant to accompany her on this trip. She rejected Mr. Mundic, a prisoner-of-war from Burma (likely suffering from PTSD) who felt spurned and began to stalk her. The assistant she ends up hiring not by choice is Enid Pretty, a floozy 26-year-old woman with yellow hair who talks non-stop and thinks she can travel without a passport. Poor Margery. And yet, this is where the fun begins. It also marks the beginning of an unlikely and solid friendship between two women who cannot be more diametrically different from each other. Q: How long did it take you to write Miss Benson’s Beetle? Has the time it takes you to finish a novel gotten shorter or longer over successive novels you’ve written and published?

I don't really have pictures on my desk unless they remind me of the characters. While I wrote Miss Benson's Beetle, I had a photo of two women on my desk who traveled together. I loved the way they stood together - one looking at the camera, the other staring into the distance. It was the inspiration for the photograph described at the end of the book. But it was also an inspiration to me - to keep trying to honour and capture that spirit. Joyce is at her most insightful in the novel’s moments of quiet reflection. The true object of Margery’s quest, of course, is finding the courage to be herself, and to become – though she doesn’t know it – an inspiration for other women who don’t fit society’s expectations. “She didn’t know how she was going to get there, or when. But the real failure as a woman was not even to try.”

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Driving on the island was a trip…over dirt roads bouncing through holes…steering hard to avoid falling trees, or goats. Rachel Joyce: As I have already said, confidence is always the problem. Will I get to the end? Is this story worth writing? Not to mention, Will anyone ever publish it? But early on with my first novel, I saw that Harold was struggling to believe in his walk, just as I was struggling to believe sometimes in my writing, and that this was a useful bond between us. I think that the thing that really makes a successful writer is sheer obstinacy. An absolute refusal to give up. It's one of the themes of Miss Benson's Beetle too. We have to be true to our 'vocation', our creative needs. Q: What can you tell us about your writing schedule and what does your writing space look like? Did your writing space begin to look like an entomologist’s study (rather than a writer's nook) while you were writing Miss Benson’s Beetle?

I enjoyed Mr. Rawlings— Enid’s dog….(spoiler) : the dog does die…but Rachel Joyce handles the death with tenderness. 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. Rachel has also written over twenty original afternoon plays and adaptations of the classics for BBC Radio 4, including all the Bronte novels. She moved to writing after a long career as an actor, performing leading roles for the RSC, the National Theatre and Cheek by Jowl.This beautifully and flawlessly written story is one of the most enjoyable and heart-warming stories I have ever read. This wonderful novel is set to publish on November 24, 2020 and I can’t wait to share it with EVERYONE! 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.