Where'd You Go, Bernadette

Spoiler Alert: A daughter's love is as infinite as an artist's creativity.

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A poignant and humorously sweet novel, Where'd You Go, Bernadette tells the story of the disgraced former architect Bernadette Fox and her descent into gradual madness after her fourteen year-old daughter declares she wants nothing more than to visit Antartica. Agoraphobic, anxious, depressed, and socially intolerant, Bernadette sees this trip as her breaking point -- she refuses to leave the safe little bubble she has created for herself, but for her daughter? There is little she wouldn't do. Complete with the wonderful messages that artists must always create and women (even mothers) must always be free, this story was delicious and deeply entertaining. Despite being a complex and broken character, Bernadette is deeply loved by her husband and her daughter Bee. In fact it is Bee's relationship with her mother that makes up the heart of the story. Told in interesting forms, through collected letters and emails collected by Bee, her love for her mother, against all odds, proves to be unconditional. While Bernadette's husband Elgie is quite flawed, and makes many mistakes in the midst of his wife's mental illness, Bee, a mere eighth grader, offers nothing but unwavering and unparalleled support for her delicate mother. Set against the backdrop of rainy Seattle, the story not only highlighted Bernadette's growing unhappiness in not being able to create, but also her alienation. Upon becoming married and subsequently quitting her job after disaster struck, Bernadette found her life completely uprooted to Seattle. While Seattle is not painted in an entirely negative light, it does in many ways represent Bernadette's loneliness. It is only in leaving that she is able to find herself and re-discover her true purpose.Despite dealing with relatively heavy subjects, the book was surprisingly quite funny. Bernadette often finds herself in trouble, particularly with the PTA head and over-achieving class mom Audrey. Through a series of unfortunate events, readers will not only sympathize with Bernadette, but laugh out loud at the wacky yet believable acts of passive aggression (and real aggression) between her and the ever persistent Audrey. Despite a gaping hole in Bernadette's social life, the book painted women-- and humans in general-- in a relatively positive light. The story, at least subtly, showed that at our core, when it really counts people can be truly kind -- even to former enemies. The book particularly underlined strong friendships and support systems between women, and highlighted the importance of supporting others despite differences. The result was a satisfying and sweet tale of misadventures and humanity.

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Favorite Quotes: “That's right,' she told the girls. 'You are bored. And I'm going to let you in on a little secret about life. You think it's boring now? Well, it only gets more boring. The sooner you learn it's on you to make life interesting, the better off you'll be.” ~~ “Maybe that’s what religion is, hurling yourself off a cliff and trusting that something bigger will take care of you and carry you to the right place.” ~~ “I can pinpoint that as the single happiest moment of my life, because I realized then that Mom would always have my back. It made me feel giant. I raced back down the concrete ramp, faster than I ever had before, so fast I should have fallen, but I didn't fall, because Mom was in the world.” ~~ “People like you must create. If you don't create, Bernadette, you will become a menace to society.”