Preview
  • Where'd You Go, Bernadette: A Novel: Booktrack Edition

  • By: Maria Semple
  • Narrated by: Kathleen Wilhoite
  • Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (1,117 ratings)

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Where'd You Go, Bernadette: A Novel: Booktrack Edition

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

Where'd You Go, Bernadette: A Novel: Booktrack Edition adds an immersive musical soundtrack to your audiobook listening experience!*

A whip-smart, hysterical dramedy about a family in crisis after the disappearance of its brilliant, misanthropic matriarch.

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 listenable and touching novel about misplaced genius and a mother and daughter's role in an absurd world.

*Booktrack is an immersive format that pairs traditional audiobook narration to complementary music. The tempo and rhythm of the score are in perfect harmony with the action and characters throughout the audiobook. Gently playing in the background, the music never overpowers or distracts from the narration, so listeners can enjoy every minute. When you purchase this Booktrack edition, you receive the exact narration as the traditional audiobook available, with the addition of music throughout.

©2012 Maria Semple (P)2018 Hachette Audio
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Critic reviews

"[A] cracklingly smart family dramedy.... [I was] stunned and transported by this extraordinarily powerful and intelligent novel."(Lev Grossman, Time)

"Intertwined with the funny stuff is the heartfelt story of a personal crisis of a creative talent who's slipped off the rails.... Bernadette's journey is fresh, funny, and thought provoking." (Anne Payne, The Florida Times-Union)

"Semple's epistolary novel satirizes Seattle, Microsoft, helicopter parents, the elite, and the overeducated - while revealing truths about family, genius, ambition, and resilience." (Gillian Flynn, GQ)

What listeners say about Where'd You Go, Bernadette: A Novel: Booktrack Edition

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
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    5 out of 5 stars

Love. This. Book! The narration is perfection.

This book was recommended by word of mouth and I just listened to it for a second time. I relished it throughout all over again. It's a great mix of snarky humour, characters you'd love to know in real life, plot intrique. Leaves you with a smile on your face wanting more. LOVE this narrator (remembered her from TV/movies). Can't praise her enough. perfect interpretation of the cast of characters.

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

Sounded a bit too childlike

The reader sounded more childish than the character of whom she was supposed to be the voice. I kept imagining a 8 year old and forgetting th character was going to high school. Other than just the sound, the performance was done well and the book was good

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Best Yet!

This is has been the best book I’ve listened to on Audible yet. Kathleen Wilhoite’s performance was amazing, not to mention how well written the book was! I highly recommend this book! I would love to listen to a sequel one day!

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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

Fine story, great narrator, annoying music.

The reader does a great job with a wonderful story, but the insipid background music is a pseudo-enhancement.

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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

Love the book. hate the movie

If you laughed out loud when reading this book, don't go to the movie. The movie made the story so serious. A couple of times during the movie I laughed and was the only one laughing. The movie put such a different slant on things. Oh well, still loved the book.

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

Loved this book!
The narration AND singing were amazing!
Can’t wait to see the movie!

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

Not A Fan

This story just wasn't my thing. I hope others do enjoy it, it just didn't make sense to me.

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

I can’t handle the narrator’s voice

I seriously don’t know if I can’t finish this. The sample wasn’t long enough for me to fully grasp this.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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overall really good

really liked the book and the narrator, but the incessant music playing the entire time drove me crazy! Very distracting...

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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

Narration OK, background annoying

I am at a loss to understand why they felt the need to add music to the background. So distracting and annoying!

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