Semple2
2014 Longlist

Where’d You Go, Bernadette

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ABOUT
THE BOOK

Bernadette Fox is notorious.
To Elgie Branch, a Microsoft wunderkind, she’s his hilarious, volatile, talented, troubled wife.
To fellow mothers at the school gate, she’s a menace.
To design experts, she’s a revolutionary architect.
And to 15-year-old Bee, she is a best friend and, quite simply, mum.
Then Bernadette disappears. And Bee must take a trip to the end of the earth to find her.
Where’d You Go, Bernadette is a compulsively readable, irresistibly written, deeply touching novel about misplaced genius and a mother and daughter’s place in the world.

The Curious Incident meets A Visit from the Goon Squad meets The Simpsons – this is a wildly imaginative, laugh-out-loud but also very poignant novel that will generate huge word-of-mouth buzz.

 

 

ABOUT
THE AUTHOR Maria
Semple

Maria Semple worked in Los Angeles as a television writer for 15 years, working on hit shows including Ellen, Saturday Night Live, Mad About You and Arrested Development. She lives in Seattle.

Maria Semple worked in Los Angeles as a television writer for 15 years, working on hit shows including Ellen, Saturday Night Live, Mad About You and Arrested Development. She lives in Seattle.

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NOMINATING LIBRARY COMMENTS

The author brings together one person by focusing on all the strands of information about them, we build up a picture based on other’s ideas and opinions. So by the time the title character appears, we have opinions and prejudices formed. It’s a clever book, with a keen sense of fun but this should not take away from the fact that it is extremely well written and an excellent read.

Stylistically adventurous and exhilarating, this book deftly satirizes the affluent, Seattle society it depicts. Bernadette is a jittery, funny, joy to read and her highly intellectual struggles with motherhood and other relationships provide the emotional heart of the novel. A total delight and loved by all our customers.

This book is filled with witty, brilliant and hilarious satire. The plot is a fun ride and the characters are so well developed they feel real. Semple’s writing is wonderful; the book is fast paced, unpredictable, addictive, intelligent and unique.

You will laugh, you will cry, but most of all, you will fall in love with the singular Bernadette and her world.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Date published
02/04/2013
Author
Publisher
Weidenfeld and Nicolson

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