I’ve bought Where’d You Go Bernadette for my mother. She likes reading light books while sunbathing, and, it was on sale. So after spending three months in our summer house, this book ends up in my family’s home with sand between its pages. While I was visiting them, I finished all the books I took with me. I don’t usually read books like this, but I wanted to give it a try, and I’m glad I did.
Where’d You Go Bernadette sounds like a “women’s novel” or a romance. In this respect, if you don’t read such books, you can relax. Yes, this book is about women, and it is a good example of contemporary fiction, not a romance. Although I do not have strong emotions about the characters, I can say that much: Bernadette is as entertaining and agile as her daughter Bee. However, the fact that she left his husband and child and disappeared on everyone made me uneasy. Bee and her father’s search of Bernadette reminded me of a television show. I guess that’s normal given that Semple wrote for television. This is a great beach book and if you are looking for a light read it may be a good choice.
Where’d You Go Bernadette
COMING SOON: The film adaptation, directed by Richard Linklater and starring Cate Blanchett, Kristen Wiig and Billy Crudup
Bernadette Fox is notorious.
To Elgie Branch, a Microsoft wunderkind, she’s his hilarious, volatile, talented, troubled wife.
For fellow mothers at the school gate, she’s a menace.
To design experts, she’s a revolutionary architect.
And to 15-year-old Bee, she is a best friend and, quite simply, mum.
Then Bernadette disappears. And Bee must take a trip to the end of the earth to find her.
WHERE’D YOU GO, BERNADETTE is a compulsively readable, irresistibly written, deeply touching novel about misplaced genius and a mother and daughter’s place in the world.
Maria Semple
Maria Keogh Semple is an American novelist and screenwriter. She is the author of This One Is Mine, Where’d You Go, Bernadette, and Today Will Be Different. Her television credits include Beverly Hills, 90210, Mad About You, Saturday Night Live, Arrested Development, Suddenly Susan, and Ellen.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
