M
Maria Semple
Maria Semple brings a sharp wit and humorous take to contemporary life, as seen in her book Go Gentle. Readers who enjoy smart, funny fiction with relatable characters will find her work a great read.
Where'd You Go, Bernadette
Synopsis
A misanthropic matriarch leaves her eccentric family in crisis when she mysteriously disappears. Bernadette Fox is notorious: a revolutionary architect to some, a disgrace to others, and simply 'Mom' to her daughter, Bee. When Bernadette vanishes before a promised family trip to Antarctica, Bee compiles emails, documents, and secret correspondence to uncover her mother's whereabouts. This novel explores misplaced genius and a mother and daughter's bond in an absurd world.
Genres
Characters
Bernadette FoxProtagonist
A celebrated architect who won a MacArthur "Genius" Grant for the Twenty Mile House, then abandoned architecture after a buyer demolished it and moved to Seattle.
Bee BranchProtagonist
Bernadette and Elgin's teenage daughter, who pieces her mother's disappearance together from emails, letters and other collected documents.
Audrey GriffinAntagonist
The Branches' neighbor and a fellow school parent, whose feud with Bernadette over a cleared hillside erupts when it collapses in a rainstorm and slides into her house.
Elgin BranchSupporting
A Microsoft executive and Bernadette's husband, absorbed in his own high-profile project as the marriage comes under strain.
Soo-Lin Lee-SegalSupporting
A Microsoft administrator who goes to work for Elgin and becomes romantically involved with him while Bernadette is missing.
Alex Award (2013)
Frequently asked questions
Is Where'd You Go, Bernadette a movie?
Yes. It was adapted into a 2019 comedy-drama film directed by Richard Linklater, starring Cate Blanchett as Bernadette Fox, with Billy Crudup, Kristen Wiig, Judy Greer and Laurence Fishburne.
Has Where'd You Go, Bernadette won any awards?
It won the American Library Association's Alex Award in 2013 (recognizing adult books with strong teen appeal) and was shortlisted for the 2013 Women's Prize for Fiction. It also spent an extended run on the New York Times bestseller list.