Where'd You Go, Bernadette?

Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Admittedly I only picked this one up because I discovered that there's going to be a movie made about it starring Cate Blanchett and Kristen Wiig. Two women whose careers I actively follow. Plus I'm a sucker for any book in general that gets made into a movie.

Bernadette; wife and mother, goes missing. The novel is told through the random emails and reports and anecdotes as told by the people around her. In this way it's sort of like Big Little Lies. You might also draw a Big Little Lies parallel in the way that the other mothers treat Bernadette and she in turn treats them.

While on the surface, it appears that this novel is about the disappearance of a woman; it's also about our perception of ourselves and others. Sometimes the lies we tell ourselves and the realities we ignore creep in and make themselves known.

The characters are fully formed and varied. No two are alike. The supporting players are just as in depth as the main characters.

It will be interesting to see how this translates to film. Overall I really enjoyed the book. I found it to be a good and quick read.


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