Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple
I enjoyed every minute of this quirky, witty search for Bernadette. Here’s the story: Bernadette, a famous architect no longer practicing her craft, is wife to Elgin Brand, Microsoft wonder, and mother to 15-year-old Bree, also not too shabby. They have moved from their life in L.A. rather abruptly to Seattle, where Bree attends a cliquey private school. Bernadette is not the class mom, not a PTA parent and not a school volunteer; she is actively not liked by the other mothers at school. The Brands live in a former boarding school for girls at the top of a hill. Agrophobic Bernadette secretly outsources her errands and her anxieties to a virtual assistant in India. Because of her excellent grades, Bree convinces her parents to make good on their promise of a reward of Bree’s choosing. Bree chooses a cruise to Antarctica and her parents capitulate. Through some smooth epistolary writing, we learn the circumstances of Bernadette’s disappearance and follow Bree’s search for her mother. Where’s You Go Bernadette is a voyeuristic peek into why Bernadette disappears, and where she ends up. I loved it! It is clever, it is different, a little outrageous, and extremely satisfying! Definitely one of the best books I’ve read this summer.
Sounds good. I’m going to check it out.