December Book Club and AMA with Rachel Joyce

December is a special time and calls for a special book club pick.

For this special month, we've picked a tender book that offers us hope, takes us on a life-changing adventure, gives us some much-needed escape from these troubled times, and explores the transformative power of friendship.

Miss Benson's Beetle, the latest book by author Rachel Joyce, is an uplifting novel about two women on a cross-ocean adventure, where they must risk everything, break all the rules, and discover their best selves—together.

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The novel— which was published earlier this month and instantly became a bestseller—tells the story of Margery Benson, a schoolteacher who abandons her dead-end job in a devastating moment of clarity and advertises for an assistant to accompany her on an expedition. She is going to travel to the other side of the world to search for a beetle that may or may not exist. Enid Pretty, in her unlikely pink travel suit, is not the companion Margery had in mind. And yet together they will be drawn into an adventure that will exceed every expectation. They will risk everything, break all the rules, and at the top of a red mountain, discover their best selves.

Rachel Joyce will be joining us for an Ask Me Anything on December 20th, at 9 am ET (2 pm GMT). So grab the book, and don't forget to join us for this event where you can ask the author any questions you have!

See you there 👋

Meet the Author

Rachel Joyce is the author of the Sunday Times and international bestsellers The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Perfect, The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy, The Music Shop, and a collection of inter-linked short stories, A Snow Garden and Other Stories. Her books have sold over 4 million copies worldwide and been translated into thirty-six languages. Two are in development for film.

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry was short-listed for the Commonwealth Book Prize and long-listed for the Man Booker Prize. Rachel was awarded the Specsavers National Book Awards New Writer of the Year in December 2012 and short-listed for the UK Author of the Year in 2014.

Rachel has also written more than twenty original afternoon plays and adaptations of the classics for BBC Radio 4, including all the Brontë novels. She moved to writing after a long career as an actor, performing leading roles for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre, and Cheek by Jowl. She lives with her family in Gloucestershire, England. 

To stay connected and learn more about her work, follow Rachel Joyce on Instagram or Facebook