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Miss Benson's Beetle

ISBN 
9780552779487
Format 
Paperback
Recommended Price 
R275.00
Published 
April 2021
About the book: 
The bestselling author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry  delivers an intoxicating adventure story about female friendship and having the courage to live your dreams, however unlikely they may be.
 
It is 1950. In a devastating moment of clarity, Margery Benson abandons her dead-end job and advertises for an assistant to accompany her on an expedition. She is going to travel to the other side of the world to search for a beetle that may or may not exist.
Enid Pretty, in her unlikely pink travel suit, is not the companion Margery had in mind. And yet together they will be drawn into an adventure that will exceed every expectation. They will risk everything, break all the rules, and at the top of a red mountain, discover their best selves.
 
This is a story that is less about what can be found than the belief it might be found; it is an intoxicating adventure story but it is also about what it means to be a woman and a tender exploration of a friendship that defies all boundaries.
 
 
'A girl's own adventure...This is Rachel Joyce's best book yet ...Exciting, moving and full of unexpected turns.'  - THE TIMES
 
'Brilliant and elegant and wise...powerful and moving...I can't recommend it enough.'  - JOANNA CANNON
 
'A beautiful portrayal of female friendship in all its frailties, contradictions and strengths.'  - RAYNOR WINN
 
WOMAN & HOME BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2020; DAILY MAIL BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2020; BOOKMARK BOOK OF THE YEAR 2020; GOOD HOUSEKEEPING BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2020
Other titles by this author 
About the Author

Rachel Joyce is the author of the  Sunday Times  and international bestsellers  The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Perfect, The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy, Maureen Fry and the Angel of the North, The Music Shop, Miss Benson's Beetle,  and a collection of interlinked short stories,  A Snow Garden & Other Stories.

Rachel’s books have been translated into thirty-seven languages and have sold millions of copies worldwide.  The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry  was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Book Prize and longlisted for the Man Booker Prize. The critically acclaimed film of the novel, for which Rachel also wrote the screenplay, was released in 2023.  Miss Benson’s Beetle  won the Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize in 2021. Rachel was awarded the Specsavers National Book Awards New Writer of the Year in December 2012 and was shortlisted for the UK Author of the Year in 2014. In 2024, she was awarded an honorary doctorate by Kingston University.


Rachel has written over twenty original afternoon plays and adaptations of the classics for BBC Radio 4. She lives with her family near Stroud.

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