Miss Benson's Beetle

Some authors are able to create a rhythm and speed with their prose. Those kinds of authors are able to carry the reader along in such a way that we feel like we’re in the curl of a wave, wrapped up in and racing through the story. Those are the kinds of books the reader doesn’t want to put down.

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This is one of those kinds of authors, one of those kinds of books.

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Her face was set like a clamp. Her hair blew wild. The police car flashed its blue light. Enid went faster. The jeep rattled, bouncing over potholes. The police car followed, bouncing over potholes. Enid took a bend on three wheels. The police car sounded its siren and also took the bend. Enid zoomed faster. So did the police car. A tree appeared. More rocks. Several goats.

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There are so many themes explored here, I want to be careful not to banalize it by saying it’s a feminist novel about two women discovering themselves and the power of female friendship. It is those things, but it's also much more.

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The dawn chorus came miles before dawn. It was actually the middle of the night. Nevertheless, every bird in New Caledonia woke early and decided to sing about it.

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It’s about the bravery and determination needed to fulfill one's vocation. It’s about finding out what we're made of when the pressure’s on, accepting people for who they are, the beauty of Nature (beetles especially), and overcoming difficulties and ignoring conventions to create a life for ourselves that feels authentic, even if it means wearing men’s clothing.

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What had possessed her to steal a pair of boots? She hadn’t just walked out of her job, she’d walked out and made it impossible to go back.

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As soon as she’d got home, she’d stuffed the boots beneath the mattress where she couldn’t see them, but it isn’t easy hiding something from yourself – ideally you need to be out of the room when you do it – and she could as easily forget the boots as her own two feet.

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This novel is exciting, heart-warming, creepy in parts, annoying in parts, lovely, heart-breaking, and uplifting. I really enjoyed it.

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The quality of a life is defined not by its length, but by its depth, its actions and achievements. It is defined by our ability to love.

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