General Information

How I came to read this book

The book was very popular when it was released, but the primary reason for me to read it was a protagonist with mental health issues. 

Overall Impression

The book had some very humorous sections, but some of the humor was better suited for a sitcom environment and didn’t land for me. It was a satirical look at the overly involved, prep-school environment (an easy target) and the author did a nice job of picking out scenes to exemplify this. 

While the protagonist fell prey to many issues related to depression and anxiety, the depiction didn’t feel authentic to me. I stumbled across several items because of a disconnect of believability. Some of this may be related to the comedy/satirical nature of the book.

The book was a quick, enjoyable read.

Warning

This review is a look under the hood at the general structure and pacing of the book from a writing perspective but will give spoilers. If you are not a writer, turn back now or be prepared for your eyes to glaze over and your mind to go numb.

Background Information

Where’d You Go, Bernadette, an international bestseller, spent over a year on the New York Times bestseller list, and made over a dozen year-end best lists.  It was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize and received the Alex Award from the American Library Association.  It was turned into a 2019 film directed by Richard Linklater and starring Cate Blanchett. – Author’s website

Amazon Publishing details (as of September 2023)

• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company; 1st edition (August 14, 2012)
• Publication date: August 14, 2012
• Print length: ‎ 335 pages
• Amazon Customer Reviews: 4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars with 35k ratings 
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
  • #37,099 in Kindle Store
  • #271 in Fiction Satire
  • #347 in Women’s Literary Fiction
  • #360 in General Humorous Fiction

Author

Maria Semple came from a family where her father was a successful writer in the TV and film industry. She wrote for comedy sitcoms—Mad About You, Ellen, and Arrested Development—before she turned to fiction. Her website has a light, playful feel to it with a variety of toys in unusual arrangements. 

My under-the-hood book review

Internal Genre: Worldview Maturation

External Genre: Crime Cozy Mystery 

The internal genre is straightforward. The protagonist must ‘grow up’ and learn to handle (or metabolize) her disappointments and failures in an adult fashion. All the main characters must learn to see the world in a broader context and have significant life lessons to learn. Using the protagonist’s daughter as the narrator amplifies this internal genre.

Based on the title and beginning, the author sets up the bones of a mystery. The question of what happened to Bernadette is what drives the story forward. Bea is the detective who sifts through the past for clues in the search for the truth. The protagonist goes missing (crime) while the theory that the protagonist may be dead also arises. 

Mystery stories fall under the crime genre and concern life values of justice/injustice. The protagonist experiences many injustices from most of the other characters in the book. Other major characters also experience injustices—real and imagined. Another factor that points to the mystery genre is the inclusion of conventions like the detective not being in danger (cozy mystery) and red herrings.

The core event in a mystery is the exposure of the criminal, which in this case is finding Bernadette. We also learn that Audrey lied to discredit Bernadette, Soo-Lin tried to steal her husband, and Manjula has ties to the Russian Mafia. These moments are exposures of criminality and support the choice of the crime/mystery genre.
I could also make a significant case for the external genres of action or society (subgenre of women’s fiction). I believe the book has blended these genres into the story, creating a complexity that is engaging to readers. However, for the reasons stated above, I would pick the primary external genre to be crime/mystery.  

Story Structure

The book is a comedy written in an epistolary structure sprinkled with narration by Bernadette’s daughter, Bea. If there is a theme or message to the story, I find it hard to identify. The author repeats a few ideas, like the artist’s need to create, but their lack of integration in the story confines them to sound bites. I feel the main point of the book is to entertain. The sectioning of the book suggests a seven-point structure was used. Mapping the sections of the book to this structure provides a good fit. 

The comedy and satire come to the forefront almost immediately. The extreme situations had a well-connected cause and effect, but I often found them to be overt and predictable. Parts like the Mercedes versus Subaru parents fell flat for me. I believe the scene would have worked better in a sitcom environment. Because of the book’s narrative structure, the constraints hampered the effectiveness of the satire.

The epistolary style added to the craziness of the situations and the characters themselves. The format skillfully avoided problems with the narrator’s voice, mature content, and teenage distractions. It also enabled the author to include subplots and points of view that would otherwise be difficult to introduce without diluting the mystery component.

Characters/Avatars 

This story utilizes a common sitcom and comedy technique of exaggerated stereotypes to develop its characters.
One of the engaging elements of the book is the protagonist’s quirky nature. The book blurb describes the protagonist as being agoraphobic. While she exhibits symptoms of depression and anxiety, I felt the depiction was unbelievable. Bernadette’s ability to go to Antarctica and have an abrupt change into a full recovery was the biggest hurdle for me. My sense was the author picked this characteristic as a method to add unusual and absurd behavior to the protagonist and add conflict.

Certain aspects worked in conveying the mental and emotional problems of the protagonist. Her disconnect with financial responsibility rang true for me. Not showering is also a common symptom. However, I felt the story didn’t develop this aspect well and only mentioned it a few times. Bernadette’s chaotic nature was best portrayed through her scattered, stream-of-consciousness correspondence with Paul Jellinek.