Where'd You Go, Bernadette, by Maria Semple
I haven't read epistolary novels in a long time, and to be frank, I tend to lose patience with them, because I feel that it takes too long to build a solid story. After all, it took half the book for Bernadette to actually disappear!
HOWEVER, all the cheeky nastygram notes, gossipy emails, and passive-aggressive announcements had me doubling over in laughter. I "LOL'ed" so hard to myself; like, my apartment neighbor definitely knows that I am a crazy person now.
The satiric force is strong in this one. It's a literary version of "real housewives of Seattle" meets the ladies of the Tinsmith cul-de-sac from Edward Scissorhands. They are proud of their humility (note the irony), are hardworking volunteers and are just a bunch of cookie-cutter "gnats" (as referred to by Bernadette). Ah, bless them. Just when I was getting comfortable, she started hinting at the increasing tension, and then all hell broke loose. I suddenly found myself flipping back to previous pages, trying to find a hint as to what might have actually happened.
Semple wrote these characters so well, and as a writer credited in Arrested Development, I expected no less!
I loved this book! Though I think it leans much more to darkly funny than the "life-affirming noel of the year" that the cover proclaims it to be. I laughed just as much as I felt uncomfortable reading this one.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely a dark comedy. Didn't see much "life-affirming", maybe a bit at the end, but it wasn't as cathartic as one would expect. Still loved it, obviously :)
ReplyDeleteOh man I luuuuurved this book so hard. I need to re-read this one. Hilarious. I like the epistolatory style of this novel cos we were seeing the story from so many different points of of view. And the epistolatoriness made sense in the context of the story (versus books that have someone writing a letter where they spell out things the receiver would already know).
ReplyDeleteThe epistolatory style was perfect for this mystery because I was putting together pieces at the same time as everyone else for once. Not too much spelling out, thank goodness!
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