Where'd You Go, Bernadette?

To say this book is quirky would be an understatement! I had no idea that author Maria Semple was a writer for Arrested Development, one of my all-time favorite television shows, until I had finished the book; probably why I enjoyed the writing style so much. Anyway, titular character Bernadette Fox is a legendary Los Angeles architect with a prestigious MacArthur Fellowship (or a “Genius Grant”) to her credit. After a complete project meltdown, she and hubby Elgin Branch (a rising star in the field of artificial intelligence at Microsoft) move to Seattle, a city that Bernadette loathes, and things go from bad to worse. The couple’s smarty-pants daughter, Bee, is enrolled in a hilariously depicted private school, complete with hyper-involved parents that Bernadette avoids like the plague (and refers to simply as “gnats”). Some of the book’s most ridiculous and laugh-out-loud moments involve interactions with fellow mom, neighbor and nemesis Audrey, the bane of Bernadette’s existence.

As the family plans to travel to Antarctica, a reward for Bee acing her report card, Bernadette resorts to planning the entire trip with the help of a virtual assistant in India. Her email correspondence with the assistant is hysterical!

As the novel progresses, however, Bernadette becomes even more irrational and insular. Then she disappears. The desire to find out where Bernadette went kept me up late turning the pages, even though the storyline lost a bit of steam.

All in all, if you’re looking for an amusing, clever read, this is the book for you!

The Snow Child

The Snow Child is a remarkable blending of an old fairy tale and a modern story of love, longing and loneliness. Add to that a picturesque Alaskan wilderness shortly after World War I and you have the recipe for a beautiful debut novel. 

The story revolves around middle-aged Jack and Mabel, who left a comfortable life in Pennsylvania to escape the sorrow over the stillbirth of their only child ten years prior. I personally fail to see the enjoyment of becoming a homesteader in Alaska, but that’s just me!

One night, on a whim, the two fashion a snow girl, complete with scarf, mittens and berry-stained lips. The next morning, their creation has been reduced to a simple lump of snow, the scarf and mittens nowhere to be found. During the next several days, Jack and Mable spot a small, blonde girl at the edge of the woods near their home. They see footprints in the snow. None of the townsfolk, however, have any knowledge of a young child living in the area. And what’s more, no one seems to believe the “child” is even real. How could she possibly survive in such harsh conditions?

Eventually, husband and wife form a relationship with this undomesticated, quite possibly otherworldly child, and a magical tale unfolds.

Eowyn Ivey has taken her love for Alaska and written a book that skillfully contrasts beauty and austerity, joy and tragedy. I must say that in order to really love this book, a reader must be willing to suspend disbelief. If you do, you’ll experience something enchanting from the first page to the last.