“Where’d You Go, Bernadette?” is my favorite offbeat novel so far this year.
I like offbeat. It’s always been my favorite style of reading and writing, and Maria Semple definitely hit all the right notes on this one. The story is cleverly written in a series of letters and emails, interspersed with narrative and dialog.The plot of the story revolves around Bee, a fifteen-year-old girl and only child, who was once promised a trip to Antarctic by her parents as a reward for perfect grades in school. It was a forgotten deal made a long time before, but Bee has made her grades and is holding her parents to their promise. The story revolves around Bee’s mother (Bernadette) and her preparations for the trip. As the story unfolds the reader learns more about the interworkings of Bernadette’s mind and some of the reasons behind her odd behavior. You need the right recipe to write a good story—and this one has just the right balance of ingredients. Yes, it’s a humorous story, but it’s also a balance of the bitter and the sweet. People are wacky but real. And I felt as if I had come to know them by the end of the book—and I will remember them always—like friends I knew, once upon a time.
I like offbeat. It’s always been my favorite style of reading and writing, and Maria Semple definitely hit all the right notes on this one. The story is cleverly written in a series of letters and emails, interspersed with narrative and dialog.The plot of the story revolves around Bee, a fifteen-year-old girl and only child, who was once promised a trip to Antarctic by her parents as a reward for perfect grades in school. It was a forgotten deal made a long time before, but Bee has made her grades and is holding her parents to their promise. The story revolves around Bee’s mother (Bernadette) and her preparations for the trip. As the story unfolds the reader learns more about the interworkings of Bernadette’s mind and some of the reasons behind her odd behavior. You need the right recipe to write a good story—and this one has just the right balance of ingredients. Yes, it’s a humorous story, but it’s also a balance of the bitter and the sweet. People are wacky but real. And I felt as if I had come to know them by the end of the book—and I will remember them always—like friends I knew, once upon a time.
Before writing fiction, Maria Semple wrote for the television shows ”Mad about You” and “Arrested Development.”
www.zeehuxley.com