Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House for gifting me a digital ARC of the latest novel by Rachel Joyce. Joyce is the queen of quirky, intriguing characters all tied up with beautiful, atmospheric writing - 4 stars for a lovely book about friendship and living your dreams.
Margery is a single woman, raised by elderly aunts after her parents' deaths. Never fitting in, she put away her dream of finding a golden beetle described in one of her father's books, to be a teacher. She reached her last straw when the students made fun of her in a drawing and she left her employment in quite the fashion. She then decided to live her dream of going to New Caledonia to find the beetle. But she needed an assistant and ended up with Enid Pretty, Margery's polar opposite in every way. Enid was escaping something as well and was anxious to leave Britain. The rest of the story is an adventure in every way as the two encounter roadblock after roadblock in their quest but end up finding something even more important - friendship.
These two characters will grow on you and stay with you, leaving good lessons on not judging other people by first impressions. And that most important lesson - everyone you meet has a story. We should all be more mindful of that in our interactions with people. But Margery and Enid - and even all the peripheral characters - are colorful people that you will be rooting for. Add in Joyce's mastery at writing these unique characters and new world and you have a great escape read!
No comments:
Post a Comment