Miss Benson's Beetle - Rachel Joyce

I've been asked many times 'who is your favorite author?' While it's hard to pick just one, I always mention Rachel Joyce. Her newest book, Miss Benson's Beetle has just released.

Why is Joyce a favorite author? Her characters and the journeys they undertake. Her characters are the ones that aren't noticed, the walking wounded, those that are 'different'. But they also have something within, some drive, determination and more to find - what they need, what they want, what they can give. And the journeys? While they often involve physical travails, for the most part it is a journey of the spirit. And for this reader, Joyce's writing makes me cry, makes me hopeful, makes me think and makes me want to be a better person.

Miss Benson had a dream when she was young, but life didn't turn out the way she expected. Forty years on, she is determined to finally follow that dream. A pair of stolen boots seals the deal. The dream? To find a golden beetle that no one has ever captured. She is going to cross the world to reach the jungles of New Caledonia. She'll need an assistant of course - and so Enid Pretty is hired. She's not quite what Margery is looking for, but needs must.

And so the journey begins. A physical journey to be sure, but also an emotional one...."She was traveling of the other side of the world. It wasn't just the ship that had been unmoored. It was her entire sense of herself."

Rachel Joyce excels at characterization. Margery and Enid are so wonderfully drawn. I could easily capture their physical appearance in my imagination. But it's what's inside that makes this such an amazing read.  Enid is a bit of a mystery with clues dropped along the way. Still, the reader will be able to piece together her story from inferences and actions. I liked her more and more with every chapter. Miss Benson's sense of self, her memories, her losses are juxtaposed with her want to be more, do more, experience more. "She got the feeling she was always looking at life through a glass wall, but one that had bobbles in it and cracks, so that she could never fully see what was on the other side and even when she did, it was too late." There's a third player, one I will leave you to discover. Their story is heartbreaking, and very real.

Joyce has such a way with words. Many sentences had me stopping to enjoy them more than once. "Besides, she had been raised in a house of women whose skill at not saying a difficult thing verged on professional."

I laughed and yes, cried. (Oh, Rachel Joyce - that ending....) I gripped my book too tightly at times, and kept reading long after my eyes said stop. But I laughed out loud many, many times as well. 

And the beetle? Is it found? Ahh, you'll have to pick up the book for the answer to that - and many other things.  Absolutely a brilliant read - one of the best of 2020 for this reader. See for yourself - here's an excerpt of Miss Benson's Beetle.

Transcription - Kate Atkinson

Oh my gosh, how do I even begin to describe Kate Atkinson's just released novel, Transcription? Brilliant! Mesmerizing! Incredibly clever! Uh huh - that good!

Juliet is 18 years old in 1940. She is recruited into the murky world of MI5 as a transcriptionist. She puts to paper the recordings of British Fascist sympathizers. 1950 - the war is over and Juliet is now working for the BBC. She assumes she has left the past where it belongs, but it's not to be.......

Juliet is such a great lead character. I adored her spunk and her acerbic sense of humour. Her naivete about some things makes her all the more human, likeable and believable.

Atkinson's plotting is intricate, richly detailed and so well done. There is no way to predict where the story was going to go, what would happen next and what the final pages would bring. It's a joy to be completely surprised by a story. Atkinson only slowly reveals an 'event' that happened at the end of Juliet's MI5 career. I was so curious to find out what that was - and how it affected the present in 1950. And the ending? Caught me completely unawares!

"And together they had committed a hideous act, the kind of thing that binds you to someone for ever, whether you like it or not."

Atkinson's plot found inspiration in National Archive releases - transcripts of an actual WWII agent's infiltration of Fascist support organizations. I loved the historic details of dress, settings, mores etc. of the time period. It was so easy to imagine the little apartment where Juliet toiled. And ten years on, her time at the BBC is just as vividly drawn.

 I mentioned Juliet's acerbic sense of humour. I laughed out loud many times - her inner dialogue is so sharp and witty. The descriptions of the BBC players, writers and programming are 'dreadfully' clever. As are Atkinson's prose. She is truly a gifted wordsmith.

And that flamingo? What a great cover! It's mentioned in the latter half of the book and pivotal to the plot....

If you've read Atkinson before, you know you're in for a treat. And if you haven't - I can't recommend her books enough! Read an excerpt of Transcription.

The Music Shop - Rachel Joyce

I'm often asked - who is your favourite author? Well, I just can't narrow it down to one, but Rachel Joyce is on the top ten list. Her books are so affecting - they resonate with me long after the last page has been turned.

And that is true again with her latest book, The Music Shop.

"There was once a music shop. From the outside it looked like any shop, in any backstreet. It had no name above the door" ...... "As long as it was on vinyl, there were no taboos. And if you told Frank the kind of thing you wanted, or simply  how you felt that day, he had the right track in minutes. It was a knack he had. A gift. He knew what people needed even when they didn't know it themselves."

Joyce's characters are always a little left of center, eccentric in their own ways. Inherently good and kind, but a little lost. Frank is missing something in his life, but he doesn't know it until the mysterious woman in the green coat enters his shop. Her arrival is the catalyst for a change in Franks' life. And not just Frank, but the other inhabitants of Unity Street. Although Frank is the lead character, I found myself just as drawn to the supporting cast - especially Kit - the 'assistant manager' of the music shop.' His innocence, bouncing around, love of posters and unfailing good nature endeared him to me. Maud, the surly tattoo artist was another favourite. They're all a little out of step, but I would love to be a resident of this wee little back street and walk with them.

Joyce has such a way with words - her prose are thoughtful and worth savouring. "They spoke in the flat monotone they used these days in order to remain on open road where nothing would jump out and surprise them. One wrong word and it was like trees coming down."

Now, as I first started to read, I began writing down the musical references and referrals that Frank makes. I was fascinated by the explanations of the music, the background of the pieces and what to listen for. The list soon grew too long and I was too caught up in reading to stop and add to the list. But, I do want to go back and listen to some pieces recommended by Frank and catch his interpretation of the piece. The explanation of silence within music intrigued me, as did many more of the musical references. Joyce neatly ties those references to what is happening with the characters.

It'd be lovely if there was a Frank - who doesn't want to have the right music 'prescribed' for them. On reading the author's notes, I learned that the premise for The Music Shop sprang from events in Joyce's own life.

I loved The Music Shop - absolutely recommended! Here's an excerpt of The Music Shop.

You Can't Judge A Book By Its Cover #39

- You can't judge a book by its cover - which is very true.

 But you can like one cover version better than another...

US/Canadian cover

UK cover

Here's a new thriller that I'm looking forward to - Cold Cold Heart by Tami Hoag. The US/Canadian cover is on the left and the UK cover on the right. So, both covers certainly illustrate that things are cold, but I like the UK cover this week - the tag line sold me. Is Cold Cold Heart a book you'll be reading? Which cover do you prefer? 

You Can't Judge A Book By Its Cover is a regular Saturday feature 

on A Bookworm's World.

The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy - Rachel Joyce

I am often asked - who is your favourite author? Well, it's hard to narrow it down to just one. But, the books that stay with me long after the last page are the ones that move me, that make me laugh, make me cry and make me think. Stories about people. Rachel Joyce writes extraordinary stories. And yes, she is one of my favourite authors.

You may recognize her name - The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry was a best seller and is a book I absolutely loved. (my review) For those of you who haven't read it (and you need to) it is the story of an ordinary man who receives a postcard from Queenie Hennessy, someone he hasn't heard from in twenty years. She is dying, but wants to say thank you for his friendship all those years ago. Harold gets it into his head that if he walks to see her (from one end of England to the other) she won't die.

I remember thinking at the end of Harold's story, that I wanted to know more about Queenie's life. And I've got my wish. Rachel Joyce's new book is The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy. We get to see the other side of the story as Queenie waits in the hospice for Harold to arrive. Unable to speak, and with the help of one of the nuns, she decides to write another letter to Harold - "....tell him the truth, the whole truth. Tell him how it really was."

Queenie's memories are full of joy and love, but also sadness and pain. I loved this ....."If only memory were a library with everything stored where it should be. If only you could walk to the desk and say to the assistant, I'd like to return the painful memories about David Fry or indeed his mother and take out some happier ones please."

The past and those memories are unfurled and revealed in Queenie's remembering. The pace of her telling varies and I found myself matching my reading to the story. Slowly, to stop and savour the joy and description of her beautiful sea garden and more quickly as the painful memories are unearthed.

The hospice is populated by a wonderfully eclectic group whose time is limited as well. Harold's journey and Queenie's waiting for Harold becomes part of their lives also. The nuns that work at the hospice are funny, kind and wise. Innocent Sister Lucy and Sister Mary Inconno were personal favourites. " You are here to live until you die. There is a significant difference."

Joyce says she ..."set out to write a book about dying that was full of life. It seems to me that you can't really write about one without the other - just as you can't really write about happiness if you don't confront sadness.

And she has. Rachel Joyce's writing make you feel - laugh, cry (oh yes have a tissue ready), empathize and sympathize, and might have you thinking about your own life, loves, hopes and dreams.

There are so many memorable passages in this book - Joyce is such a gifted writer. "Sometimes, Harold, the way forward takes you by surprise. You try to force something in the familiar direction and discover that what it needs is to move in a different dimension. The way forward is not forward, but off to one side, in a place you have not noticed before."

Just when I was resigned to the end of the book only being a few pages away, Joyce surprised me - with the most perfect, unexpected ending. If you loved Harold Fry's story (and I would recommend reading Harold's story first to fully appreciate this book), you'll love Queenie's too.  This is one of my favourite books of 2014. Read an excerpt of The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy. You can find Rachel Joyce on Facebook and on Twitter.

Life After Life - Kate Atkinson

I think Kate Atkinson is a brilliant writer. Her Jackson Brodie detective books are a favourite series. With her latest release Life After Life, she takes things in a different direction.....

Ursula Todd is born on a snowy night in February 1910. And dies the same night. And is born again. And dies again. Over and over.

But each 'life' is a little different. Different choices, different choices and directions taken each time change the course of not just Ursula's life, but of those around her and those whose lives she touches. At first she is not aware of these incarnations, but as they repeat...

"...and sometimes, too, she knew what someone was about to say before they said it or what mundane incident was about to occur - if a dish was about to be dropped or an apple thrown through a glasshouse, as if these things had happened many times before. Words and phrases echoed themselves, strangers seemed like old acquaintances."

Atkinson starts us off slowly, with small changes and subtle alterations to the timeline. Each time though, Ursula lives a little longer and the path is altered. I loved the back and forth story telling. Each time I wondered what would change next. As I read, I often wondered what would I have changed? Can Ursula truly change the course of her life every time? And is every change for the better? Better for her or better for others? What about changing the course of history? Atkinson takes her tale through the war years many times - all again with many different outcomes. This part of the book was brilliant - the details and the settings crackle with authenticity and lent this tumultuous time a very personal and real view. The Blitz came to life for me with Atkinson's telling.

Ursula is a wonderful character - human, flawed, funny, pragmatic and wonderfully drawn. The Todd household is made up of just as many fascinating personalities. I was particularly drawn to Ursula's brother Teddy and her father Hugh. Again, the amount of detail woven in and around these lives is captivating. But small, seemingly insignificant details are the things that don't seem to change from life to life -  a little black cat brooch with a rhinestone for an eye, a dog's name, a picture on a wall - just their context in the story.

Life After Life is brilliant on so many levels - the story, the characters and the exploration of family, fate and destiny.

I initially raced through the first few chapters and then stepped back to slowly take my time finishing Life After Life. It was just too good to finish quickly and I enjoyed stopping after the snow falls (the end of Ursula's current life) to ponder what had happened and imagine where Atkinson might go next. And I was never able to guess right. There are turns I didn't see coming, changes I didn't like, passages that left me breathless and above all - stories to be savoured. Which one is the final ending? Who knows? Deliciously, Atkinson leaves that up to our own imagination.

"No point in thinking, you just have to get on with life. We only have one after all, we should try and do our best. We can never get it right, but we must try." "What if we had a chance to do it again and again, until we finally did get it right? Wouldn't that be wonderful?"

.....what if?.....   Read an excerpt of Life After Life. You can find Kate Atkinson on Facebook