A wife, mother, and disgraced architect disappears from her
family’s home in Seattle one day, leaving nothing behind but a confused daughter
and a fumbling husband who try to piece together clues about her disappearance.
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| Picture retrieved from www.amazon.com |
In this novel, Semple spends a great deal of time
constructing the portrait of a woman who was once terribly self-confident and
an architectural savant. After her life’s work is (literally and figuratively)
demolished by unfriendly neighbors, she retreats into her house and creates a
world that revolves around her making as few decisions – and appearances – as possible.
Throughout the story – or at least until she abandons them, Bernadette
maintains strong, albeit unfounded, relationships with her teenage daughter Bee,
and her husband Elgie who rarely appears to know what’s happening past the
edges of his glasses. Bernadette is sometimes portrayed as snarky, sometimes as
impossibly “above it all”, sometimes as a pitiful outcast - but always with the
air of someone who just can’t figure out how to fit in. Bernadette’s anxiety
isn’t unfounded- Semple constructs a community of perfectionist, impossibly
annoying, school parents and neighbors who seem to fit the Microsoft
constructed world that somehow mashes “granola” and “high-tech” to create an
unwelcoming and irritating culture. After an accident and subsequent meltdown
with one of the other mothers in Bee’s class, Bernadette skips out on an
intended intervention, leaving her family clueless about where she’s gone – and
how she got there. In an effort to reclaim her relationship and her mother, Bee
pieces together clues about her mother’s life from emails and scraps of
information she is able to dig up, or get from her mother’s Indian virtual
assistant. Bee and Elgie embark on a literal trip to the ends of the earth
to find Bernadette, and figure out just where, and why, she went.
Semple’s attempt to demonstrate how one mother chose to just
“go” after her inability to stomach her family’s world is a smart reflection of
how other mothers may feel; however, the story line is overshadowed by an
impossibly selfish main character, and a family that accepts this absurd
behavior. Semple does do a good job of exploring the intricacies of human and
familial relationships, and the complex ways in which humans find ways to cope
with the things they cannot change. A good read for those who are willing to
tolerate some nonsensical scenarios and characters.
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On a personal note, I really disliked this book when I read it - both times! However, I do feel that for the most part, it's because I don't really like satire, I don't like Seattle, and the fact that I don't really appreciate hugely unrealistic scenarios. That being said, I can see some merit in the book, and understand why some people enjoyed it as much as they did. I hope that comes through in this review! Does anyone else have strong feelings about this book?
This is a great review! I liked this book for the most part. As someone with anxiety, I identified a little with Bernadette, and I thought that her behavior was less selfish and more related to her own anxiety. However, I agree that some of the situations she ends up in are pretty far-fetched. It was quirky and fun to read, in my opinion. I understand your thoughts on it, though. I like that your review includes your honest feelings about the book, but that it also points to things that readers might like about it. It's a very fair take on it, and those are the kinds of reviews that I think are most helpful and insightful.
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