Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple

Elgin is struggling with a failing marriage. Just take it from the characters of Where'd You Go, Bernadette. The important thing is how we respond to it. No matter the specifics, failure is something that everyone experiences at some point. Maybe your first try at the SATs barely broke double digits. Maybe your big, romantic prom proposal was as well-received as a death in the family. What is Where'd You Go, Bernadette About and Why Should I Care? So, does Bee find her mom? Or does Bernadette pull an Amelia Earhart and drop off the grid forever? You're just going to have to do some sleuthing (or reading, at least) to find out. Still, Bernadette might be her greatest success so far, spending a year on the New York Times bestsellers list, earning a nomination for the 2013 Women's Prize for Fiction, and eventually being adapted into a film starring Cate Blanchett and directed by Richard Linklater. It's a mockumentary in book form.Īnd did we mention that this sucker is hilarious? Besides novels, author Maria Semple spent her career writing for some of the biggest TV comedies ever, including Arrested Development, SNL, and Ellen. Instead of being written like a straight-forward story, the novel is told entirely through documents (emails, letters, hospital bills, and these old things called 'faxes') which have been compiled by Bee in an attempt to solve the mystery of the missing mom. As Bee struggles to make sense of these crazy circumstances, she ends up learning not just why they happened, but also the secrets her mom has been hiding from her since she was born.Īs cool as the story is, the real magic of Where'd You Go, Bernadette is the way it's told. These events include, but are not limited to: a mudslide, her mother Bernadette's sudden disappearance, an affair, one out-of-wedlock child, an FBI investigation, and at least one brush with the Russian mafia. Her decision kicks off an insane series of events. We might not be impressing our parents, but at least we're not dragging anyone to the South Pole.

The only problem: she wants her family to take a cruise to Antarctica to celebrate her graduation from eighth grade. She's sweet and thoughtful and nice to everybody.

Bee Branch is who your parents wish you were.

Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple