Medium – Book
About the Book – Margery Benson is a schoolteacher, living in London in 1950. London is still reeling from WW2, and Margery is making her way quietly through live, just scraping by. One day, after a terrible lesson, Margery decides that she has had enough, and she leaves the school in an exciting fashion, deciding to rediscover her passion for beetles and her dream to travel to New Caledonia to search for the golden beetle, which may or may not exist. Margery decides to hire an assistant, and manages to hire Enid Pretty, the last person she had in mind. Decked out in a pink travelling suit and pompom shoes, Enid is fun-loving and adventurous, but isn’t really suited to an expedition into the jungle. The women’s friendship grows however, although Enid seems to have a number of secrets, and Margery has a rather dangerous admirer…
My Rating – 3/5
My Thoughts – I bought this book whilst on holiday, having seen people raving about it in a reading group I’m part of on Facebook. The precis appealed to me – a story of female friendship, with adventure and humour thrown in. I enjoyed the beginning of the book, and liked meeting Margery and Enid – they are two completely different characters, but also very complementary, and I enjoyed seeing their friendship blossom. This isn’t an ‘easy’ book – there are some potentially triggering depictions of suicide, PTSD, miscarriage and physical abuse – but there is a charm to it that I enjoyed. The characters of Margery and Enid are eminently readable and likable, and I enjoyed the descriptions of their journey into the jungle.
I was disappointed, however, by the ending. Whilst I don’t want to give away too many spoilers, I did feel that it was an ending which did not suit the earlier tone of the book or the growth that the characters had experienced. It felt unfair on both the characters and the reader to have the ending that we did, and although I can see the reasons for it, I would have preferred a different one! I gave this book to my husband to read and he said the same – great beginning and middle, unfortunate ending. This is not a book that will have a sequel, and I don’t think that I would re-read it.
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