Bernadette Fox

𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 Where’d You Go, Bernadette 𝘣𝘺 Maria Semple

𝘍𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘋𝘢𝘺 2
𝘐𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘶𝘯. 𝘈𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬'𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦.

Bernadette the novel is a complex circus act that juggles Seattle soccer moms, Microsoft politics, an F.B.I. sting operation, and the conflicts between art, career, and family. But Bernadette the character feels like a sarcastic, grown-up version of Amelia Bedelia. A creative woman at painful odds with her environment, Bernadette is an agoraphobic architect who’s been suffering design block for years. Not only has she failed to finish a single house, chaos on a grand scale (think mudslides and Russian crime syndicates) follows in her wake. She blames Seattle. Her mentor is flabbergasted and tells her sternly that 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦. 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦, 𝘉𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘢 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘺. Bernadette still blames Seattle though, and when all her troubles converge, she pulls a vanishing act worthy of her reputation and then her real adventures begin.

p.s. Despite the wonderful talents of Cate Blanchett, the 2019 movie does not really capture the brilliantly searing spirit of the book. Read the novel or listen to the excellent audio version, narrated by Kathleen Wilhoite.
See the uncropped image here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CF2vTUsByKt/