I found this book totally uplifting, charming and hilarious but with a sprinkling of trauma and unexpected violence! Marjorie Benson gives up her school teaching job to go on an expedition to the South Pacific to find the Golden Beetle of New Caledonia, an insect introduced to her by her father when she was a child. It is 1950 and with an unlikely assistant called Enid Pretty they head off totally ill-prepared but determined in their quest. Like all the best stories their physical journey takes them on an even greater journey of self discovery. Surprising, delightful and beautifully written!
Miss Benson’s Beetle by Rachel Joyce is available from MCFL here, along with several of her other novels.