• Where'd You Go, Bernadette

  • A Novel
  • By: Maria Semple
  • Narrated by: Kathleen Wilhoite
  • Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (17,176 ratings)

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Where'd You Go, Bernadette  By  cover art

Where'd You Go, Bernadette

By: Maria Semple
Narrated by: Kathleen Wilhoite
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Publisher's summary

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.

©2012 Maria Semple (P)2012 Hachette Audio

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What listeners say about Where'd You Go, Bernadette

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    8,885
  • 4 Stars
    5,198
  • 3 Stars
    2,086
  • 2 Stars
    618
  • 1 Stars
    389
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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    9,808
  • 4 Stars
    3,369
  • 3 Stars
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  • 2 Stars
    457
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Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    7,754
  • 4 Stars
    4,645
  • 3 Stars
    2,002
  • 2 Stars
    619
  • 1 Stars
    363

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

I had mixed feelings

although I could see where the author was going with her humor, and her poking at privilege - specifically white privilege- the classism and sarcasm about some serious topics left me feeling uncomfortable. sometimes angry.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Truth About Seattle !

Must read for anyone who has moved to Seattle from somewhere else! Not only is the story great, and the character's likable - her critique of Seattle culture is spot on and hilarious!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderfully well read!

The book is just lovely! But Kathleen Wilhoite brings it to life with joy and excitement.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Hilarious, even the sad parts

This book was hilarious. Even the sad parts of the book are comical. I really enjoyed listening to this one.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Unpleasant Characters, Implausible Story

Having a hard time finishing this one. The characters are all unpleasant and unrealistic and the way the story is told (through emails, letters, etc.) is limiting. The teenage daughter and her friend don’t act like any 15 year olds I have ever met, more like 11 year olds. I would not waste a credit on this one.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Entertaining story but not laugh out loud for me.

So much of the hype for this book was that it is "divinely funny" "funniest novel I've read" that I find myself wondering if there is something wrong with my sense of humor. I don't honestly remember laughing once reading the book. Does that mean that I didn't enjoy the story? Not at all, in the end I really liked Bernadette and Bee as characters and cared what happened to them. And that to me is the hallmark of good storytelling.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

I loved this book

The characters are quirky and fun !!
I enjoyed this book from beginning to ending.Got it on a whim and was not disappointed ✅

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

wow!!!!

Best read/listen I've had in a long time! The actor who read it was phenomenal!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

such a unique story told in such a unique way

I love it. I just love it. the entire story is told through diaries, emails and letters to and from a host of characters. because there are so many characters telling their own pieces of the story, you get a ton of dimension in a way that takes minimal words and is less confusing than other methods used to do this.

Bernadette is a gripping, deeply interesting character with whom i became instantly obsessed. she's written so well that despite her having a completely different life than mine, I saw the world through her eyes with an unsettling amount of ease.

the narration is wonderful. unfortunately, I saw that there were people who didn't enjoy the narration but I think they made up their mind too early. I have over a hundred books in my audible library and this young woman is in my top 5 favorite narrators. she's an amazing vocal performer. the voice she uses in the beginning for B seems weird at first but we find out later that B has a condition that effects her voice that makes it sound that way.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Sweet, Funny Story - Awful Narration

Good story, entertaining, quirky, humorous. Definitely a recommended fun read. The narrator herself isn’t horrible, it’s just totally wrong for this book and these characters. Not at all what I would imagine for snobby moms or a 14 yr old girl (she was read like an 8 yr old boy). The tone was just totally off.

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