Maria Semple Livres

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.

A stranger's life hangs in the balance, and Dr. Charlotte Reese has the power to decide her fate. Working in the intensive care unit of Seattle's Beacon Hospital, Charlotte battles death daily, monitoring critical patients. One night, a Jane Doe arrives from a rural hospital, unconscious after a hit and run. As Charlotte and her team strive to stabilize her, the police search for the driver. Days pass, Jane's condition deteriorates, and her identity remains unknown. Charlotte is forced to make complex medical decisions that intertwine her fate with Jane's, challenging her professional detachment. She grapples with profound questions: Who is Jane Doe? Why is no one looking for her? Who should determine her fate if she doesn’t wake up? Charlotte also wrestles with the troubling notion of whether a life in a coma is worth living. With the help of her boyfriend, Eric, a science journalist, she embarks on a quest to uncover Jane's past. However, as they delve deeper into the mystery, their relationship faces strain. Ultimately, it is through confronting their feelings for each other and for life that they unlock Jane Doe's shocking secret and prepare for a miracle. Set against the stunning backdrop of the Pacific Northwest, this novel explores moral complexity and emotional depth.

A brilliant novel and instant New York Times bestseller from the author of Where'd You Go, Bernadette , about a day in the life of Eleanor Flood, forced to abandon her small ambitions and awake to a strange, new future. Eleanor knows she's a mess. But today, she will tackle the little things. She will shower and get dressed. She will have her poetry and yoga lessons after dropping off her son, Timby. She won't swear. She will initiate sex with her husband, Joe. But before she can put her modest plan into action, life happens. Today, it turns out, is the day Timby has decided to fake sick to weasel his way into his mother's company. It's also the day Joe has chosen to tell his office -- but not Eleanor -- that he's on vacation. Just when it seems like things can't go more awry, an encounter with a former colleague produces a graphic memoir whose dramatic tale threatens to reveal a buried family secret. Today Will Be Different is a hilarious, heart-filled story about reinvention, sisterhood, and how sometimes it takes facing up to our former selves to truly begin living.

The sparkling debut novel of Maria Semple, author of the WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION-shortlisted WHERE'D YOU GO, BERNADETTE, including reading group notes. Violet Parry is living the quintessential life of luxury in the Hollywood Hills with David, her rock-and-roll manager husband, and her darling toddler, Dot. She has the perfect life - but she's deeply unhappy. David expects the world of Violet but gives little of himself in return. When she meets Teddy, a roguish small-time bass player, Violet comes alive, and soon she's risking everything for the chance to find herself again. Also in the picture are David's hilariously high-strung sister, Sally, on the prowl for a successful husband, and Jeremy, the sportscaster savant who falls into her trap.

Bernadette Fox nie cieszy się dobrą reputacją. Jej własny mąż, guru w środowisku Microsoftu, uważa, że jest niesłychanie uparta. Zdaniem sąsiadów i rodziców ze szkoły jej córki, przynosi hańbę miastu i szkole. Dla orłów designu jest genialną rewolucjonistką w dziedzinie architektury. Dla swojej piętnastoletniej córki, Bee, jest najlepszą przyjaciółką i, po prostu, mamą. Nagle Bernadette znika. Zaczyna się, kiedy Bee przynosi znakomite świadectwo i prosi o obiecaną nagrodę: rodzinną wycieczkę na Antarktykę. Ale nasilająca się alergia Bernadette na Seattle – i na ludzi w ogóle – wykształciła w niej taką agorafobię, że teraz w podstawowych czynnościach pomaga jej wirtualna asystentka z Indii. Podróż na kraniec ziemi może być więc sporym problemem. Żeby odnaleźć matkę, Bee zbiera e-maile, oficjalne dokumenty, prywatną korespondencję – tworząc wciągającą i wzruszającą powieść o niezrozumianym geniuszu i niezachwianej miłości córki do niedoskonałej matki. Gdzie jesteś, Bernadette? to światowy bestseller, pełna humoru cięta satyra na współczesną rodzinę, współczesne mieszczaństwo, na środowisko Microsoftu i informatyków w ogóle. Jest książką wyjątkową, wymykającą się wszelkim próbom klasyfikacji. Na nowo odkrywa zapomniany gatunek powieści epistolarnej. W dodatku autorka, scenarzystka niejednego popularnego sitcomu, potrafi bawić czytelnika od początku do samego końca.