Where'd You Go, Bernadette

This novel is fast, wildly creative, unpredictable, even a bit zany. Just don't give up on it.

Because I nearly gave it up after completing the first section. At that point I thought it was going to be just another satirical look at the unique culture of of the Pacific Northwest. Affluent but dedicated parents in Seattle who compete around school volunteering. Terminal niceness. And one family that doesn't quite fit in. Fortunately, as I read on, the book became much more complex and compelling.

At its heart is the newly arrived Branch family:
•Elgin - a pioneering genius guru at Microsoft, whose Ted Talk is one of the most watched EVER.
•Bernadette - a visionary architect and former MacArthur grant winner, who has trouble settling show more into Seattle.
•Bee - their 15-year-old super smart daughter, with a history of health issues, and a budding interest in attending an Elite East Coast prep school.

From the title, you know that at some point Bernadette disappears. But what you can't know (and I certainly won't give it away here) is why and how. There will be moments when you think you understand. But author Maria Semple has a whole host of surprises in store.

You will meet villains who become heroes and supposed heroes who turn out to work purely to further their own self-interest. It's an interesting tale that examines the illusive nature of "truth" and, more specifically, what can happen when people interpret events differently and BELIEVE they understand something when they don't.

The author builds the novel out of straight narration, supplemented by emails, letters, and assorted reports from physicians, police, and the FBI. It's a fun read. show less

In Maria Semple's Where'd You Go, Bernadette, Bernadette Fox is not your ordinary mother. She does not volunteer her time at her daughter’s private school. Her house is a former convent. She does not cook or clean, using a maid service and virtual assistant in India to fulfill those motherly roles – cleaning and reservation-making. To Bee though, her mother is perfect, made even more so when she agrees to Bee’s proposal for a trip to Antarctica for their entire family. As plans are made, Bernadette finds herself the victim of a set of unfortunate circumstances that soon escalates to the absurd. Hesitant to leave for Antarctica in the first place, it is only a matter of time before the entire situation becomes more than she can show more handle. It is up to Bee’s unwavering loyalty and deepest love to find out where her mother went and to right the pieces that caused her to flee.

The cast of characters is large but that does not mean it is difficult to distinguish between them. In fact, the story would not have worked quite as well had there been fewer characters. To perform the sleights of hand necessary to pull off its intricate plot, a large cast is essential. Moreover, it highlights how easily it can be to mix up a story, blow a scene out of proportion, and in general cause the kind of chaos Bernadette faces. Ms. Semple does an excellent job maneuvering the reader through the complexities while giving life to the distinct individuals.

One cannot discuss Where'd You Go, Bernadette without discussing its humor because it plays such a large role throughout the story. Nothing is sacred, except for the bond between Bernadette and Bee. The entire narrative is very tongue-in-cheek, skewering the upper-middle-class/private school demographic, Seattle’s weather, the cruise ship industry, Microsoft, neighborhoods in general, and so much more. Bernadette’s abhorrence of anything considered mainstream is quirkily endearing and provides many a laugh as she clashes with her conventional neighbors on multiple fronts. However, a reader could quickly turn to anger because some of situations that lead up to Bernadette’s disappearance are absolutely infuriating if one allows them to be. Ms. Semple skillfully diffuses the tension through her nod to the absurd, and a reader can do nothing but chuckle at the multiple misunderstandings and deliberate miscommunications that eventually lead to Bernadette’s disappearance.

Yet, Where'd You Go, Bernadette is not all laughs and satirical situations. At its heart is the very real and touching drama of a young girl desperately searching for her mother, and a mother struggling to find her identity years after her entire life was turned upside-down. Bernadette’s quirky behavior, however amusing, has a dark note to it, as one realizes that it is not due solely to her refusal to be normal but also due to depression, the reasons for which are understandable once revealed in full. In fact, her mental struggles are something to which most readers will be able to relate.

Even before Bernadette’s disappearance, a reader knows that their mother-daughter relationship is special. Actually, it may be the only thing keeping Bernadette grounded in a city she detests and without the job she adores. Bee is precocious and adorable, filled with an enthusiasm for life most people will only ever dream of having, while her embrace of all of her mother’s eccentricities denotes a level of self-comfort not normally seen in a teenager. Her willingness to accept her mother wholeheartedly and in spite of all of her faults is at once endearing and incredibly poignant. Readers could only be so lucky to have such a loving and accepting relationship as the one between Bee and her mother.

Kathleen Wilhoite is absolutely superb as the narrator. Because the story is told through letters, voicemail, news articles and other methods of communication, keeping the individual voices separate and distinct is key for an understandable and enjoyable audiobook experience. Ms. Wilhoite excels at this. Moreover, her performance brings each character to life, making them more than the document they’ve written. She narrates in such a way that it is as if a listener were standing in the room as the individual character is typing out his or her message. The resulting intimacy enhances the overall experience because they are truly telling the story, and for that reason, it is difficult to imagine obtaining the same level of satisfaction for the story and understanding of the characters via the print version. For those on the fence about downloading this as an audiobook, rest assured that it is one of the most entertaining audio experiences of the year.

Where'd You Go, Bernadette is a brilliant mockery of conventional norms but also a touching portrayal of the unconditional love between mother and child. In addition, there is an exploration of the darker side of depression and the loss of one’s identity that tempers the humor. Bernadette’s inability to conform to her neighbors’ expected behaviors – through her house, her lack of participation in school events, and the like – not only cause hilarious scenes but also hint at the devastation wrought to her self-esteem after her last architectural project went so horribly wrong. Bee’s unwavering faith in her mother’s awesomeness gives hope that Bernadette will rise from her despair and become the brilliant artist she is. The entire story is at once funny, maddening, charming, and hopeful, and it is no wonder why Where'd You Go, Bernadette has garnered the acclaim it has. show less

When was the last time that you planned to take your 15 year old daughter to Antarctica? My guess is of the millions of people that compose the population of LibrayThing and Goodreads…the answer is probably...wait for it...NEVER. Are there even hotels in Antarctica?? Are there non-stop flights taking off from major airports across the country?? The obvious answer to these questions is one of the reasons why this didn’t get more than 2 stars from me. It was completely unbelievable. Maybe it was suppose to be and I completely missed the whole point. The other reason was because these people suffered from a very serious case of being nuttier than a Christmas fruit-cake. There was not a single likable character among them. "Obnoxious" show more doesn't even begin to describe them. If I thought the mother and daughter were not the brightest bulbs in the chandelier…we meet the father who is busy having an affair with his admin assistant whose resulting pregnancy is brushed under the rug and exalted like it was the next Immaculate Conception. I believe the entire family needs several in-depth sessions with Dr. Phil. Oh…that’s right they’ve already had several session with a "Dr. Phil like" person and the good doctor needs to plan to join them when they go. I don’t know who is responsible for writing the book description but if they think that this is “ a touching novel about misplaced genius and a mother and daughter's role in an absurd world”, they need to get on the plane with the rest of these people. Dr. Phil is going to be a busy, busy man. show less

This is a farcical satire about Seattlites, and really the general pacific northwest vibe, because it could have been set in Portland with a few minor changes. Bernadette and her husband, Elgin, both grew up on the other coast with the boarding school set, then acclimated to L.A. as young adults, before fleeing to Seattle after something bad happened. (Unlike some other books that have pissed me off, this "horrible" event really was pretty horrible.)

Bernadette hates everything about Seattle, while Elgin has discovered his inner (in Bernadette's words) "bike riding, Subaru driving, Keen wearing" alter-ego. (I'm guilty on two of those three counts and working on the third.) In fact, Bernadette hates pretty much everything, except her show more gifted 14-year-old daughter, Bee. Since Bee has maintained excellent grades all the way through her pretentious, progressive K-8 school, her parents have promised her anything she wants and what Bee wants is a trip to Antarctica. But right before their scheduled departure, Bernadette disappears.

The book consists mostly of e-mails, letters, and other written communications between various characters, including two moms from Bee's school (who Bernadette refers to as "gnats"). I liked this best, although I thought Semple's language was far too descriptive for ordinary communications. Unifying all these pieces was occasional narration from Bee, which I wasn't as crazy about. Usually, I like precocious narrators, but Bee annoyed me for some reason, especially in the last part of the book when the text was almost entirely her narration.

Like her title character, Semple moved from L.A. (where she wrote for Arrested Development and Mad About You) to Seattle, making her a voice of both authority and hilariousness. My fellow PNWers who don't have a problem laughing at our mockable cultural traits will enjoy this fairly light, quick read.

Reread for book group, August 2014. show less

I'm colour blind or, at least, that's what they tell me. I've never seen the world any differently than the way I see it now. I'm taking other people's word for it that they're seeing things that I'm not. It COULD be a mass delusion or a global conspiracy but, you know, Occam's razor, think horses not zebras (unless you're on the Savannah, in which case, think Zebras).

Most of the time, the difference in what I see and what others see has no impact. Then I'll get the, "Wow, look at that field of poppies. Isn't that red amazing?". I see red as a recessive colour. If I really look, I'll notice it, but it doesn't jump out at me, so poppies are kinda lost against all the green stuff around them. Other people are much more conditioned to see show more red and pay attention. I can tell this by the way their eyes immediately spot even the smallest bloodstain on my clothes - but that's a different story.

Anyway, listening to the much loved, "Where'd you go, Bernadette?" (now made into a movie starring Cate Blanchett - odd how no one complains about casting an Australian actress as an American but pick the wrong skin colour for a mermaid and you're in deep trouble), I felt the same way that I do when other people go wow over that field of poppies - if I squint, I can kinda see that this is a funny book, packed with zany humour and delivered with a light touch and a slightly unconventional structure. I just don't care.

I was looking for something light. I'm doing that a lot lately. I certainly found it with "Where'd You Go, Bernadette". Problem is, I found out that this is not the kind of light I'm in sympathy with. This doesn't make me chuckle. It makes me grind my teeth, muttered words like "vapid", and "narcissistic" and take off my headphones and rant about unconscious privilege and irrelevant first-world problems and ask how the hell someone who thinks of herself as smart and well-educated EVER thought that Polar Bears and Penguins shared a habitat.

I gave up after an hour (about 10%) deciding that I'm humour blind as well as colour blind, that I should learn to take life less seriously and that this DEFINITELY wasn't the book that was going to teach me that.

The audiobook is read by Kathleen Wilhoite in a frantic over-emoted voice that may perfectly capture the spirit of the book but was also a reason why I didn't make it past the first hour. Click on the SoundCloud link below to hear a sample.

https://soundcloud.com/hachetteaudio/whered-you-go-bernadette-maria-semple show less

Delightful book! Bernadette is my favorite of the characters I've met this year. She is funny and intelligent and loving, but also slightly sociopathic. She is an artist and a loving mother, but allows her home and marriage to fall into ruin. She is fiercely vocal and opinionated yet paradoxically afraid to be around people. When Bernadette disappears and is presumed dead, her precocious and devoted teenage daughter tackles the mystery of her disappearance.

Most of the book is epistolary, told in the form of e-mails, faxes, magazine articles, etc., but some of it is daughter Bee's own narrative. The book has great humor and warmth and pokes gentle fun at some of the difficulties of living and working alongside other people. It's a show more testament to the fact that each family must find its own way to be "normal." Well-written and generally lighthearted, it still contains clever social commentary and touching moments.

I highly recommend this wonderful story and will look for more from this author! show less

I love novels that are mostly written in letters and transcripts, and it's never been done better than it's done here. The characters are brilliant, the plot is propulsive, and there's an honest laugh on just about every page. Bernadette, a 50 year old Seattle mom with a Microsoft star husband and a precocious kid at a crunchy private middle school, comes off as overprivileged, aggressive, and underchallenged, but it gradually becomes clear that there is far more to her, and that she's a mystery not just to the reader but to her loving family as well. When she disappears and is presumed dead, her young daughter's heroic efforts to uncover the mysteries of Bernadette's life cast light not just on Bernadette, but on the unignorable show more demands of creative talent and the importance of looking beyond what's most obvious about a person.

You can read this as social satire — Seattle has never been so expertly and lovingly skewered — or as a screwball romp, but it's really a novel in the full sense of the word. Very highly recommended. show less