My book review of 'Where'd you go Bernadette?' by Maria Semple

by Maria Semple
Where'd you go Bernadette?
by Maria Semple

Let me say from the outset that I don't generally enjoy books written as letters, emails, texts, messages etc. But this book is the exception!

Bee's mother, Bernadette has disappeared and Bee is trying to piece together what has happened to her by compiling an account of her last months through letters and invoices, phone messages and emails.

Bee is a teenager and her mum was just that, her mum. Through these various documents she discovers that in fact Bernadette was a talented architect who was struggling to cope with a life of school runs and domesticity.

This is a quirky and funny book which is a delight to read and with the documents each being quite short, you just want to keep reading a little bit more, and a little more. Coming to the conclusion, you remember that in fact Bernadette's disappearance is quite a serious concern and the book takes a deeper, more melancholy tack. There's so much here, that I think it's a book to read again and again. I loved it!

Date of this review: July 2013