What a delightful gem of a book! It’s been a long time since I returned to Rachel Joyce and I think this is her best book yet, at least from the three I’ve read. 

In it we follow three main characters - each one hurt and broken in their own unique way. Margery Benson, the Miss Benson of the title, a middle-aged awkward, klutzy, socially inept woman who is burdened and altered by the weight of the grief she suffered as a child and never learned to overcome. Enid Pretty - a young woman who has had a hard life, no family and yet manages to be optimistic. She is bold, brash, superstitious and vulnerable. And then there is Mundic - a soldier and POW in Burma during WWII, he comes across as most broken of all - physically and mentally he’s fighting a losing battle against insanity.

The book is peppered with moments of action, reaction and enlightenment in each of the characters journeys. Marge’s first moment of action is in the beginning of the book, when she makes a decision that will eventually change the course of her life. Enid’s first moment of action I think is when she applies for the job as Marge’s assistant, leaving everything that is safe and familiar behind. I love that Joyce keeps these moments subtle and nuanced. In fact her entire narrative is nuanced and therefore believable. This is how people often react in real life, quietly and stubbornly fighting the odds. Many make it through the crises, others don’t. 

The book is primarily an ode to friendship between women as Joyce mentions in the notes at the end of the text. Loosely inspired by Mary Lobb and May Morris, who shared a long and enriching bond, she mentions how she decided to write about female friendship. Marge and Enid are polar opposites at the start of their journey, but they learn to lean on parts of each other that bolster their self-belief, confidence and ability to overcome. They learn to function as a team while retaining their innate individuality. Through living together they increase their self-awareness and are able to let go of the secrets that are weighing them down. They become friends and confidants and achieve a true bond of friendship that is rare and precious, and in doing so they change each other irrevocably and forever. Mundic has his own travails and I thought Joyce was spot on with her description of his physical and mental deterioration. His is a cautionary tale of what war does to people.

Joyce creates atmosphere as expertly as she creates characters. The journey to ‘the end of the world’, as it were, to discover a hitherto unseen beetle is described in extremely authentic terms. The rainforest is a tough and terrible place, especially for two women who have no previous experience in expeditions of this sort. There is the difficult terrain, innumerable insects, dangerous wildlife, and unpredictable weather. The women struggle through it all and persevere, discovering an internal well of courage and chutzpah they didn’t know they had. These parts that involve their explorations of the mountains and forests for the beetle, feel almost like a thriller at times with the pacing. One never knows what might happen next! 

I loved everything about this book! The story, Joyce’s writing style, the pacing, the inevitable intermingling of happiness and tragedy that defines our human condition, but most of all I loved the friendship between Marge and Enid. It’s one of the best portrayals of female friendship I’ve read in a long long time! Heart-warming, heart-breaking and completely real, this is a definite re-read for me. Highly, highly recommend!