Helpful Score: 1
What fun this book was! Quick recap of key characters:
Bernadette - Award winning architect turned recluse who hides out the days in an airstream camper she had installed by her house so she can avoid the house help. She also has a virtual assistant in India who she hires to basically handle all the day to day duties she has including ordering food, shopping, and planning all the details of their upcoming vacation (at only 75 cents an hour which I confess gave me a momentary idea before I was horrified that I even considered it!).
Elgin "Elgie" - Her Microsoft genius husband who really has no clue of the life that exists around him, including his own family. Such an enigma that he thinks it's totally appropriate to work at the office without his shoes walking around in only his socks...which is probably gross considering how much it rains in Seattle. How cool would it be to be considered such a god that you could walk around funking up the air around the office and no one would dare tell you to put your shoes back on?
Balakrishna "Bee" - their daughter who is an extremely intelligent child who is probably the most normal character in the book!
The Gnats - What Bernadette calls the other private school moms who are a bunch of self-absorbed and narcissistic women. Their antics constantly had me laughing, while another part of me wanted to poke them in their eyeballs. I actually respected Bernadette a lot for her reserved way of dealing with them instead of giving a karate chop to the neck.
Truly a group of 1 percenters as another reviewer described. Money seems to come out of the water faucets for these people. I suspect they might even use dollars as toilet paper. Their reality is unimaginable for the other 99 percent of the population. Yet somehow...I liked Bernadette. Yes she seems like a nut job and the family has no idea how the rest of the world lives, but she is a woman who loves her child.
I found it laugh out loud funny throughout. The majority was written in various forms of correspondence format. I was really pulling for Bernadette despite all her flaws (because are we not all flawed? Just in different ways?). I was really pulling for Bernadette and hoping she would be found. As for if she was, you will have to read for yourself to find out.
People will probably either love it or not, depending on whether or not you can suspend belief while reading it.
Bernadette - Award winning architect turned recluse who hides out the days in an airstream camper she had installed by her house so she can avoid the house help. She also has a virtual assistant in India who she hires to basically handle all the day to day duties she has including ordering food, shopping, and planning all the details of their upcoming vacation (at only 75 cents an hour which I confess gave me a momentary idea before I was horrified that I even considered it!).
Elgin "Elgie" - Her Microsoft genius husband who really has no clue of the life that exists around him, including his own family. Such an enigma that he thinks it's totally appropriate to work at the office without his shoes walking around in only his socks...which is probably gross considering how much it rains in Seattle. How cool would it be to be considered such a god that you could walk around funking up the air around the office and no one would dare tell you to put your shoes back on?
Balakrishna "Bee" - their daughter who is an extremely intelligent child who is probably the most normal character in the book!
The Gnats - What Bernadette calls the other private school moms who are a bunch of self-absorbed and narcissistic women. Their antics constantly had me laughing, while another part of me wanted to poke them in their eyeballs. I actually respected Bernadette a lot for her reserved way of dealing with them instead of giving a karate chop to the neck.
Truly a group of 1 percenters as another reviewer described. Money seems to come out of the water faucets for these people. I suspect they might even use dollars as toilet paper. Their reality is unimaginable for the other 99 percent of the population. Yet somehow...I liked Bernadette. Yes she seems like a nut job and the family has no idea how the rest of the world lives, but she is a woman who loves her child.
I found it laugh out loud funny throughout. The majority was written in various forms of correspondence format. I was really pulling for Bernadette despite all her flaws (because are we not all flawed? Just in different ways?). I was really pulling for Bernadette and hoping she would be found. As for if she was, you will have to read for yourself to find out.
People will probably either love it or not, depending on whether or not you can suspend belief while reading it.
Bernadette was a great character, and I wish we were friends. And seeing as how I live 30 miles from Seattle, maybe we could be. This was another local book with a lot of local name dropping. I'm not sure if of would have been as good to me if I hadn't grown up here. Don't get me wrong, it was a great story, but I'm wondering if it was better because I was familiar with the locale?
I really liked this book--it was fast moving and kind of comical what happened. It uplifted my spirits.
I listened to it on CD. It kept me laughing as I drove to and from work and on errands. I found myself looking for excuses to drive somewhere. I loved it!
MM in SC
MM in SC
Where do I begin? Quirky, interesting, fun.....Sad, poignant, distressing. What kind of book brings out all of these emotions? Well a book that has Bernadette, Bee and Elgie. At times I wanted to stop reading this book but I was so invested in the outcome that I couldn't. Where'd You Go Bernadette? I'm glad I went on this journey with the Branch family.
Where'd You Go Bernadette is a quirky and enjoyable read. Very cleverly written and just plain fun! You do not need to know Seattle to enjoy this book.
Found the book interesting in style- different. Tells a story by a composition of letters and messages between characters. Atypical.
