Where'd You Go, Bernadette: A Novel

Bernadette Fox is a misanthropic matriarch whose mysterious disappearance throws her eccentric family into crisis. To her Microsoft-executive husband, she is a fearlessly opinionated partner; to Seattle private-school mothers, she is a disgrace; to design professionals, she is a revolutionary architect; and to her 15-year-old daughter Bee, she is her best friend and mother. Bernadette vanishes after Bee earns top grades and claims her reward: a family trip to Antarctica. Bernadette's worsening aversion to Seattle and people generally has made her so agoraphobic that a virtual assistant in India now handles her daily tasks. The Antarctic journey becomes impossible. To locate her mother, Bee assembles email messages, official documents, and secret correspondence. This collection forms a novel about misplaced genius and the relationship between a mother and daughter navigating an absurd world.