Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple

After she informs him of Bernadette's 'attacks' on Audrey, he begins to consider admitting Bernadette to a psychiatric institution. Soo-Lin Lee-Segal, a friend of Audrey’s and an admin at Microsoft, goes to work for Elgin. This caused Bernadette to lose her creative passion and prompted her relocation to Seattle, where she had four miscarriages before giving birth to Bee. After winning the grant, Bernadette sold the house, only to realize it had been sold to a hostile neighbor who demolished the home as soon as he obtained it. Their tension worsens when Audrey accuses Bernadette of running over her foot with her car - which Bernadette does not dispute, though it is untrue - and when the hillside above Audrey’s house, recently cleared of blackberries by Bernadette at Audrey’s request, collapses during a rainstorm and slides into Audrey’s house.īee learns that her mother was once a famous architect who earned a MacArthur 'Genius' Grant after creating the 20 Mile House in Los Angeles, so called because it was made entirely from materials sourced from within 20 miles of the home. Bernadette also has ongoing feuds with some of the other mothers at Bee's private school, the main instigator being her neighbor Audrey Griffin.

Bee’s father, Elgin, is a genius who works at Microsoft, while Bernadette is an agoraphobic stay-at-home parent who delegates the task of making their arrangements to a personal assistant in India, Manjula. It is narrated by her 15-year-old daughter Bee Branch, and is told in a series of documents (emails, memos, transcripts, etc.) with the occasional interlude by Bee.Īfter her mother, Bernadette, goes missing, 16-year-old Bee Branch gathers correspondence relating to her mother in order to ascertain what has happened to her.īee's parents had previously promised her anything she wanted in exchange for good grades - upon presenting them with a perfect report card, she requests a family vacation to Antarctica. The plot revolves around an agoraphobic architect and mother named Bernadette Fox, who goes missing prior to a family trip to Antarctica. Where'd You Go, Bernadette is a 2012 epistolary comedy novel written by Maria Semple.

Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple