Where'd you go Bernadette - Maria Semple

Bernadette Fox has vanished. When her daughter Bee claims a family trip to Antarctica as a reward for perfect grades, Bernadette, a fiercely intelligent shut-in, throws herself into preparations for the trip. But worn down by years of trying to live the Seattle life she never wanted, Ms. Fox is on the brink of a meltdown. And after a school fundraiser goes disastrously awry at her hands, she disappears, leaving her family to pick up the pieces.

Which is exactly what Bee does, weaving together an elaborate web of emails, invoices, and school memos that reveals a secret past Bernadette has been hiding for decades. Where'd You Go Bernadette is an ingenious and unabashedly entertaining novel about a family coming to terms with who they are, and the power of a daughter's love for her mother. 

My thoughts:

The first part of the book was great, the middle part was only ok and frankly depressing at times. The last part was good. I do wish it had been constant, but oh well.

The story is told via emails between two women, between emails between Bernadette and her virtual assistant in India, and via many other things. Later we learn that Bee is writing a book and has all of this is her source, trying to piece together why her mum went missing.

Bernadette has many issues, that's for sure. Creativity drove her a bit mad.

Bee is a good kid.

The dad is all about Microsoft, and maybe he should listen more.

I did like the way it was told, those emails gossiping, the insight into others, and then the big question, where'd she go? That even had me worried for real, and I liked how it all tied together at the end.

Conclusion:
But yeah it was just sad at times, depressing really. But it turned out well in the end.

Cover

eh

Paperback, 330 pages
Published April 2nd 2013 by Back Bay Books (first published 2012)
Fiction
Library