by Rachel Joyce
First published 2020
Margery Benson has had enough. The London schoolteacher reaches her limit one ordinary day in 1950 and walks away from everything. She quits her job and decides to chase a dream from her childhood: finding the golden beetle of New Caledonia, an insect that might not even exist. Margery places an advertisement for a travel companion to join her expedition to the other side of the world. The woman who responds is nothing like what she expected. Enid Pretty arrives in a bright pink suit and pom-pom sandals, bringing chaos wherever she steps. These two mismatched British women embark on a journey across oceans that transforms them both. Their adventure becomes more than a search for an elusive creature. Together they discover something neither woman knew she was looking for.
Genres: fiction, literary-fiction, adventure, contemporary
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: London, New Caledonia
Period: 1950
368 pages · Paperback · Dial Press Trade Paperback