Maria Semple spent fifteen years in Los Angeles as a television writer, working on hit shows including ELLEN, SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, MAD ABOUT YOU and ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT. Her second novel, WHERE'D YOU GO, BERNADETTE, was an international bestseller and was shortlisted for the 2013 Women's Prize for Fiction and won the 2013 Melissa Nathan Award. Maria lives in Seattle. www.mariasemple.com
Extremely funny, often laugh-out-loud so ... with her penchant for unexpected twists and smart jet-propelled dialogue, Semple has a way of combining a technologically savvy, ice-cool wit with a stealthy ability to show gradually a character's warmer side - SUNDAY TIMES The characters in BERNADETTE may be in real emotional pain, but Semple has the wit and perspective and imagination to make their story hilarious. I tore through this book with heedless pleasure A clever, witty page-turner with sparkling dialogue, some hilarious episodes and a heart that gradually melts - MAIL ON SUNDAY [A] deeply touching novel about misplaced genius and a mother and daughter's place in the world. A seriously compulsive read - STYLIST In what is at times a sad and painful tale about family dysfunction, black comedy waylays sentimentality . . . a witty, thrilling adventure about creation, destruction, the Antarctic - and the maternal bond - OBSERVER The funniest book I've read in a decade. I laughed to the point of crying on an airplane. My wife thought I'd lost my mind until she read it a few days later - MARIE CLAIRE