The Friday 56|#39 Where’d You Go, Bernadette?

Book: Where’d You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple.

Synopsis: Bernadette Fox is notorious. To her Microsoft-guru husband, she’s a fearlessly opinionated partner; to fellow private-school mothers in Seattle, she’s a disgrace; to design mavens, she’s a revolutionary architect, and to 15-year-old Bee, she is a best friend and, simply, Mom.

Then Bernadette disappears. It began when Bee aced her report card and claimed her promised reward: a family trip to Antarctica. But Bernadette’s intensifying allergy to Seattle—and people in general—has made her so agoraphobic that a virtual assistant in India now runs her most basic errands. A trip to the end of the earth is problematic.

To find her mother, Bee compiles email messages, official documents, secret correspondence—creating a compulsively readable and touching novel about misplaced genius and a mother and daughter’s role in an absurd world.

The Rules:

1. Grab a book, any book.
2. Turn to page 56 or 56% in you E-Reader. (If you have to improvise, that’s okay.)
3. Find any sentence, (or few, just don’t spoil it)
4. Post it.
5. Add your URL post below in the Linky. (Add the post URL, not your blog URL.)

The 56:

During the walk to the bus, I was able to listen, express curiosity, and simply “be” with each child. I was also able to observe them for early indications of PTSD. I am happy to report that your children appeared to be coping very well. Their greatest concern was whether they’d get their rain gear back, and how it would be returned to them. I answered every question as honestly as I could. I told them we’d do our best to recover their belongings, which would probably be dirty, but the mommies would try to clean them.

*The Friday 56 is a Weekly Meme hosted by Freda’s Voice.