MARIA SEMPLE
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Where'd You Go, Bernadette (2012)
This is the story that daughter Bee pieces together of what leads to her mother Bernadette's disappearance. Bernadette is an award-winning architect who buys a ramshackled big house in Seattle when her husband Elgie goes to work for Microsoft. He becomes a star and money is no object but the house remains a leaking wreck. Bee is a highly capable student and much loved at her school but her standoffish mother doesn't endear herself to the other parents. She even uses a virtual assistant in India to help organise her life. Bernadette is reluctant to go on a family cruise to Antarctica where she will have to deal with seasickness and people in close quarters but she has promised Bee. So what happens to Bernadette that makes her disappear without telling her beloved daughter where she's gone? Bernadette is indeed a quirky character, with loads of layers that are peeled back during the story. Her skirmishes with the school mums, including the conniving Audrey with the blackberry problem, are very funny. Told from Bee's viewpoint, with a series of emails and letters included from various characters, the first three-quarters of the book was far more enjoyable - I think I must have missed Bernadette once she disappeared.
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