REVIEW: Where'd You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple

Bernadette Fox has a pretty notorious reputation.  To her Microsoft big-wig husband, she's opinionated and fearless. To the fellow private-school mothers, she's a disinterested disgrace. To architectural design students around the world, she's a genius. And to her daughter, 15-year-old Bee, Bernadette is simply the best, pretty cool mom around.

“I'm not too good when exposed to people”--Bernadette

Upon acing her report card, Bee calls in her parents' promise to grant her a reward. And what does she want? A family trip to Antarctica, of course! However, Bernadette's intensifying allergy to Seattle—and people in general—has made her so agoraphobic that a virtual assistant in India now runs her most basic errands, making a trip to the end of the earth problematic. Toss in a concerned husband, psychiatric therapist and an FBI invitation and things really go awry when Bernadette disappears!

“I'm going to let you in on a little secret about life. You think it's boring now? Well, it only gets more boring. The sooner you learn it's on YOU to make life interesting, the better off you'll be."--Bernadette

In order to find her mother, Bee compiles her mother's emails and other official documents which create the narrative to a hilarious and touching novel that kept me engaged from start to finish.  The characters are fantastic! I adore Bernadette and Bee so much but love the crazy neighbor, Audrey too--as well as a host of other characters driving this unique story. I can't wait to delve into more novels by Semple!

This is part of my 2017 Pop Sugar Reading Challenge; category--a book of letters.  The compiled, epistolary nature of the story really adds to the appeal and is the driving force of the novel. So well done! I highly recommend the audiobook as well!

Final rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Follow the author on Twitter: @_MariaSemple



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