
Miss Benson's Beetle
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Juliet Stevenson
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By:
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Rachel Joyce
About this listen
National best seller
“A beautifully written, extraordinary quest in which two ordinary, overlooked women embark on an unlikely scientific expedition to the South Seas.” (Helen Simonson, author of Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand)
From the best-selling author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry comes an uplifting, irresistible novel about two women on a life-changing adventure where they must risk everything, break all the rules, and discover their best selves - together.
She’s going too far to go it alone.
It is 1950. London is still reeling from World War II, and Margery Benson, a schoolteacher and spinster, is trying to get through life, surviving on scraps. One day, she reaches her breaking point, abandoning her job and small existence to set out on an expedition to the other side of the world in search of her childhood obsession: an insect that may or may not exist - the golden beetle of New Caledonia. When she advertises for an assistant to accompany her, the woman she ends up with is the last person she had in mind. Fun-loving Enid Pretty in her tight-fitting pink suit and pom-pom sandals seems to attract trouble wherever she goes. But together, these two British women find themselves drawn into a cross-ocean adventure that exceeds all expectations and delivers something neither of them expected to find: the transformative power of friendship.
Praise for Miss Benson's Beetle:
“A hilarious jaunt into the wilderness of women’s friendship and the triumph of outrageous dreams.” (Kirkus Reviews)
©2020 Rachel Joyce (P)2020 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
“[Miss Benson’s Beetle] feels larger than Joyce’s other books—more expansive, swashbuckling, a wild adventure. It is the best so far of her novels, and the most inspiring. . . . At the heart of the story is the slow, unlikely friendship that builds between the two women and how that friendship enables them both to grow stronger, more capable and more self-reliant. . . . There is resilience, there is redemption, and there is beauty—great beauty.”—Minneapolis Star Tribune
“I fell in love with the unlikely friendship between two wildly different women—their devotion to each other as they trek up and down mountains in someplace called New Caledonia is a hysterical delight. This novel made me realize how hungry I am for stories about women loving each other into being their best selves.”—Ann Napolitano, author of Dear Edward
“Miss Benson’s Beetle is a pure joyride. Sweet, witty, poignant, filled with intrigue and unlikely friendship, it’s a perfect escape. I loved it.”—Lisa Wingate, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Before We Were Yours and The Book of Lost Friends
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The House of Two Sisters
- A Novel
- By: Rachel Louise Driscoll
- Narrated by: Antonia Salib
- Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Essex, 1887. Clementine’s ability to read hieroglyphs makes her invaluable at her father's Egyptian relic parties, which have become the talk of the town. But at one such party, the words she interprets from an unusual amulet strike fear into her heart. As her childhood games about Isis and Nephthys—sister goddesses who protect the dead—take on a devastating resonance in her life, and tragedy slowly consumes her loved ones, she wonders what she and her father may have unleashed.
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The Big Finish
- By: Brooke Fossey
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
- Length: 10 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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For Duffy Sinclair, life boils down to one simple thing: maintaining his residence at the idyllic Centennial Assisted Living. Without it, he’s destined for the roach-infested nursing home down the road. So, he keeps his shenanigans to the bare minimum with the help of his straight-laced best friend and roommate, Carl Upton. But when Carl’s granddaughter Josie climbs through their bedroom window with booze on her breath and a black eye, Duffy’s faced with trouble that’s sticking around and hard to hide.
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SO GOOD!
- By Berit☀️✨ on 04-17-20
By: Brooke Fossey
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The Signature of All Things
- A Novel
- By: Elizabeth Gilbert
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 21 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Signature of All Things, Elizabeth Gilbert returns to fiction, inserting her inimitable voice into an enthralling story of love, adventure and discovery. Spanning much of the 18th and 19th centuries, the novel follows the fortunes of the extraordinary Whittaker family as led by the enterprising Henry Whittaker - a poor-born Englishman who makes a great fortune in the South American quinine trade, eventually becoming the richest man in Philadelphia.
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Don't miss this one
- By Molly-o on 12-27-13
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Major Pettigrew's Last Stand
- A Novel
- By: Helen Simonson
- Narrated by: Peter Altschuler
- Length: 13 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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You are about to travel to Edgecombe St. Mary, a small village in the English countryside filled with rolling hills, thatched cottages, and a cast of characters both hilariously original and as familiar as the members of your own family. Among them is Major Ernest Pettigrew (retired), the unlikely hero of Helen Simonson's wondrous debut. Wry, courtly, opinionated, and completely endearing, Major Pettigrew is one of the most indelible characters in contemporary fiction, and from the very first page of this remarkable novel he will steal your heart.
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Charming book with an excellent narrator
- By jc on 03-05-10
By: Helen Simonson
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The King's General
- By: Daphne du Maurier
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 13 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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A classic work of historical fiction from the author of Rebecca and The Birds. Honor Harris is only 18 when she first meets Richard Grenvile, proud, reckless - and utterly captivating. But following a riding accident, Honor must reconcile herself to a life alone. As the English Civil War is waged across the country, Richard rises through the ranks of the army, marries and makes enemies, and Honor remains true to him. Decades later, an undaunted Sir Richard, now a general serving King Charles I, finds her.
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Engaging...but not my favorite du Maurier title
- By Janna Wong Healy on 10-30-16
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Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk
- A Novel
- By: Kathleen Rooney
- Narrated by: Xe Sands
- Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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It's the last day of 1984, and 85-year-old Lillian Boxfish is about to take a walk. As she traverses a grittier Manhattan, a city anxious after an attack by a still-at-large subway vigilante, she encounters bartenders, bodega clerks, chauffeurs, security guards, bohemians, criminals, children, parents, and parents to be in surprising moments of generosity and grace. While she strolls Lillian recalls a long and eventful life that included a brief reign as the highest paid advertising woman in America - a career cut short by marriage, motherhood, divorce, and a breakdown.
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Lillian takes a stroll down memory lane!
- By Iris Pereyra on 01-29-17
By: Kathleen Rooney
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Remarkable Creatures
- By: Tracy Chevalier
- Narrated by: Charlotte Parry
- Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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On the windswept, fossil-strewn beaches of the English coast, poor and uneducated Mary Anning learns that she has a unique gift: "The eye" to spot fossils no one else can see. When she uncovers an unusual fossilized skeleton in the cliffs near her home, she sets the religious community on edge, the townspeople to gossip, and the scientific world alight. After enduring bitter cold, thunderstorms, and landslips, her challenges only grow when she falls in love with an impossible man.
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Wonderful Book!
- By Griffin on 02-01-10
By: Tracy Chevalier
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The Girl with the Louding Voice
- A Novel
- By: Abi Daré
- Narrated by: Adjoa Andoh
- Length: 12 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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The unforgettable, inspiring story of a teenage girl growing up in a rural Nigerian village who longs to get an education so that she can find her “louding voice” and speak up for herself, The Girl with the Louding Voice is a simultaneously heartbreaking and triumphant tale about the power of fighting for your dreams.
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A must HEAR!
- By Michelle on 03-09-20
By: Abi Daré
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Meet Me in Monaco
- A Novel of Grace Kelly's Royal Wedding
- By: Hazel Gaynor, Heather Webb
- Narrated by: Nancy Peterson, Jeremy Arthur
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Movie stars and paparazzi flock to Cannes for the glamorous film festival, but Grace Kelly, the biggest star of all, wants only to escape from the flashbulbs. When struggling perfumer Sophie Duval shelters Miss Kelly in her boutique, fending off a persistent British press photographer, James Henderson, a bond is forged between the two women and sets in motion a chain of events that stretches across 30 years of friendship, love, and tragedy.
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Pleasant but predictable
- By RueRue on 02-05-20
By: Hazel Gaynor, and others
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Florence Adler Swims Forever
- By: Rachel Beanland
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis, Tim Paige, Carly Robins, and others
- Length: 10 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Atlantic City, 1934. Every summer, Esther and Joseph Adler rent their house out to vacationers escaping to “America’s Playground” and move into the small apartment above their bakery. Despite the cramped quarters, this is the apartment where they raised their two daughters, Fannie and Florence, and it always feels like home. Now Florence has returned from college, determined to spend the summer training to swim the English Channel, and Fannie pregnant, after a miscarriage, is on bed rest for the duration of her pregnancy. The apartment is bursting at the seams.
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I was grabbed up right away!
- By Stephanie Epps on 07-24-20
By: Rachel Beanland
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The Spymistress
- By: Jennifer Chiaverini
- Narrated by: Christina Moore
- Length: 13 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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New York Times best-selling author Jennifer Chiaverini delights fans by transforming true events into riveting historical fiction. Set during the Civil War, The Spymistress introduces little-known Elizabeth Van Lew, a Virginia woman who used a vast spy network to steal Confederate secrets for the Union. But her next mission would prove the ultimate test of her mettle: infiltrate the infamous Confederate Libby Prison and orchestrate a daring escape.
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Great Civil War era book!
- By Timp598 on 10-24-13
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The School of Essential Ingredients
- By: Erica Bauermeister
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 6 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Once a month on a Monday night, eight students gather in Lillian's restaurant for a cooking class. Among them is Claire, a young woman coming to terms with her new identity as a mother; Tom, a lawyer whose life has been overturned by loss; Antonia, an Italian kitchen designer adapting to life in America; and Carl and Helen, a long-married couple whose union contains surprises the rest of the class would never suspect.
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Lovely, lovely book
- By Molly-o on 03-21-09
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Saving Ceecee Honeycutt
- A Novel
- By: Beth Hoffman
- Narrated by: Jenna Lamia
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Laugh-out-loud funny and deeply touching, Beth Hoffman's sparkling debut is, as Kristin Hannah says, "packed full of Southern charm, strong women, wacky humor, and good old-fashioned heart." It is a novel that explores the indomitable strengths of female friendship and gives us the story of a young girl who loses one mother and finds many others.
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A Wonderful Listen!
- By Jeanne on 03-02-10
By: Beth Hoffman
Terrific storytelling and performance
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Laughed out Loud, A Lot
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Spoiler alert
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Tremendous narration!
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Who Would Have Thought?
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Surprises
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This is my all time favorite!!
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Different and Enjoyable
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Wonderful book
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Jolly good fun!!
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