If you’re looking for some fun, light reading with a bit of bite, this is an immensely charming story of a family in crisis amidst the world of wealthy Seattle.

Bernadette is a once-brilliant architect whose mental state has been deteriorating ever since her career went awry 20 years ago. Her gifted daughter Bee is the centre of her world and only friend; while her software visionary husband has morphed into a boring “cyclist” stranger consumed by his work.   Constantly at odds with the stuck-up clique of mothers at her daughter’s school, a hilarious sequence of social disasters and the anxiety of an upcoming family trip to Antarctica send Bernadette over the edge and she goes missing, leaving a wake of chaos behind her. The story unfolds in a series of emails and letters sent between the various characters, compiled by Bee in an effort to track down her mother.