Miss Benson’s Beetle by Rachel Joyce is filled with absurdity, trauma, obsession, friendship, crime, growth, self-acceptance. Our first responder found it laugh-out-loud funny and another member felt the author did a good job balancing the colonialism, racism and sexism with humor. One of us was struggling at first, but the story picked up and by the end she liked it.
I did not keep detailed notes this month. The discussion jumped back and forth around the table, some of our thoughts coming out like musings, the full table muting the sound. I solicited a few responses because I wasn’t initially certain everyone had spoken.
One of us wondered if the Golden Beetle of New Caldonia is real. Probably not in New Caledonia, but there is a Golden Tortoise Beetle which is common in Eastern North America. Another member wondered if New Caledonia was part of Vanuatu, but it is separate from that chain of islands and is still governed by France.[i] I think we would have liked to have images and maps of the area, but alas, not at the meeting. Stop by the Adult Services Desk and I’ll pull up some pictures. Traveling and experiencing vicariously through books is real!
The majority of us were seriously unhappy with the ending for Enid. Are we sure that Margery’s dad died? One of us is a retired Home Economics teacher and she was appalled at the descriptions of Margery as a teacher. We questioned Dolly’s betrayal of Margery, but understood it when we considered the force of Mrs. Pope’s bullying personality and their previous friendship. One of us called out that Mrs. Pope’s actions, although reprehensible in the context of the story and her personal motivations, could be considered reasonable since she was reporting crimes – breaking into a school and stealing supplies, stealing a jeep, potentially murdering a husband. And what was Enid’s reason for dying Margery’s hair blonde? This story does require quite a bit of suspension of disbelief.
We ended our meeting just shy of the full hour. As usual there was much more we could discuss – perhaps too much more. I had trouble enjoying the book because of the amount of trauma. I wanted the author to save Mundic. I was metaphorically covering my eyes through the end scenes. What makes something humorous, darkly comic, or simply disturbing? We all bring personal connections and experiences that inform our reading responses. That’s what makes our discussions so wonderful and important.
- WORDS:
- Mangle (noun) – “a machine for smoothing or pressing clothes, household linen, etc., by means of heated rollers.” Dictionary.com
- Haversack – A single-strap, one-shouldered bag.
- Hoicked – to lift or pull abruptly or with effort.” Oxford languages search result. “She found two old cane chairs that she hoicked up to the veranda.” Pg. 149
- Jerrycan/Jerry can – “ flat-sided can with a capacity of between 4.5 and 5 gallons used for storing or transporting liquids, esp motor fuel: originally a German design adopted by the British Army during World War II” Dictionary.com
- Cerise – Dark red. From the French word for cherry- so cherry red.
- Choko – “the cucumber-like fruit of a tropical American cucurbitaceous vine, Sechium edule: eaten as a vegetable in the Caribbean, Australia, and New Zealand.” Dictionary.com “A salad of choko and sliced pawpaw.” Pg. 224
- Beriberi – “a disease, endemic in E and S Asia, caused by dietary deficiency of thiamine (vitamin B 1 ). It affects the nerves to the limbs, producing pain, paralysis, and swelling.” Dictionary.com
- OTHER WORKS DISCUSSED:
- Brave the Wild River (2023) by Melissa Sevigny (December 2025 Book Club Discussion)
- BOOKS WE’VE BEEN READING:
- Murder She Wrote: A Body in Boston (2025) by Jessica Fletcher and Terrie Farley Moran
- Project Hail Mary (2021) by Andy Weir
- Parable of the Sower (1993) by Octavia Butler
- The Widow (2025) by John Grisham
- Women of the Bible (Exact title uncertain)
[i] https://www.un.org/dppa/decolonization/en/nsgt/new-caledonia
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