Where'd You Go, Bernadette
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4.2 • 540 Ratings
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- $19.99
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- $19.99
Publisher Description
A misanthropic matriarch leaves her eccentric family in crisis when she mysteriously disappears in this "whip-smart and divinely funny" novel that inspired the movie starring Cate Blanchett (New York Times).
Bernadette Fox is notorious. To her Microsoft-guru husband, she's a fearlessly opinionated partner; to fellow private-school mothers in Seattle, she's a disgrace; to design mavens, she's a revolutionary architect; and to 15-year-old Bee, she is her best friend and, simply, Mom.
Then Bernadette vanishes. It all began when Bee aced her report card and claimed her promised reward: a family trip to Antarctica. But 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. A trip to the end of the earth is problematic.
To find her mother, Bee compiles email messages, official documents, and secret correspondence -- creating a compulsively readable and surprisingly touching novel about misplaced genius and a mother and daughter's role in an absurd world.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
There’s genuine affection and tenderness underneath the madcap twists and cheeky humor of Maria Semple’s breakthrough novel, Where’d You Go, Bernadette. The tragicomic tale follows teenager Bee Branch’s quest to find her troubled mother—who has disappeared without a trace. The novel is structured as a sort of dossier of emails and everyday documents, but Gilmore Girls actress Kathleen Wilhoite does a great job evoking Bee’s earnest, bewildered voice even when she’s reading things like a mysterious ER bill. Semple’s sharp-elbowed jabs at Seattle tech culture and suburban mommy wars provide plenty of laughs.
Customer Reviews
Fantastic audiobook
Narrator Kathleen Willhoite does an amazing job bringing multiple characters to life. One of the best audiobooks I’ve listened to, from story to narrator.
Enjoyable and Hilarious
Really enjoyed the book, not too deep or shallow, lots of humorous insight. It was a nice break from some of my recent serious reads.
(Spoiler Below)
I do wish that there had been a bit of a turn around in Bernadette’s view of people, she’s very critical of the homeless for example, but... Rome wasn’t built in a day.
good book, terrible narrator
It’s really such a shame that I decided to get this as an audiobook, because this narrator is a joke. She completely overacted, and her voice was often so screechy it was painful to listen to. She tried to do a variety of accents and most of them were so bad they were borderline offensive. Please just get this as a print book and save yourself from torture