Bee’s Search for Her Mother

Where'd You Go Bernadette

Bee’s effort to understand Bernadette’s disappearance grows from a daughter’s refusal to accept an easy explanation into a determined search across Antarctica.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

A Missing Mother A Missing Mother from "Where'd You Go Bernadette". A Missing Mother The question Bee resists her father’s reassurance that her mother’s disappearance is not her fault.

A Missing Mother from "Where'd You Go Bernadette". A Missing Mother The question Bee resists her father’s reassurance that her mother’s disappearance is not her fault.

A Missing Mother The question Bee resists her father’s reassurance that her mother’s disappearance is not her fault. She wants an account of what happened, not comfort in place of an answer. The search begins Her insistence turns uncertainty into a personal investigation. The novel’s documentary fragments become clues she will eventually try to connect.

A Chosen Destination A Chosen Destination from "Where'd You Go Bernadette". A Chosen Destination A promised reward Bee asks for a family trip to Antarctica as her graduation present.

A Chosen Destination from "Where'd You Go Bernadette". A Chosen Destination A promised reward Bee asks for a family trip to Antarctica as her graduation present.

A Chosen Destination A promised reward Bee asks for a family trip to Antarctica as her graduation present. Her parents agree, and she approaches the journey as a long-awaited chance to see the continent she has studied. An unintended promise The trip also becomes a test of whether her parents can share an experience together. Bee does not yet know how badly adult tensions will complicate it.

The Unsent Evidence The Unsent Evidence from "Where'd You Go Bernadette". The Unsent Evidence A private account At Choate, Bee receives a packet of emails, reports, and other documents about her mother.

The Unsent Evidence from "Where'd You Go Bernadette". The Unsent Evidence A private account At Choate, Bee receives a packet of emails, reports, and other documents about her mother.

The Unsent Evidence A private account At Choate, Bee receives a packet of emails, reports, and other documents about her mother. She turns the evidence into a book rather than accepting the partial stories adults offer her. A changed course The work draws the school’s attention and helps lead to Bee leaving Choate. For Bee, the documents are not a distraction from her mother; they are a way to keep searching.

A Voyage for Answers A Voyage for Answers from "Where'd You Go Bernadette". A Voyage for Answers Following the record Bee travels with Elgin to Antarctica, ostensibly for closure but privately intending to find Bernadette.

A Voyage for Answers from "Where'd You Go Bernadette". A Voyage for Answers Following the record Bee travels with Elgin to Antarctica, ostensibly for closure but privately intending to find Bernadette.

A Voyage for Answers Following the record Bee travels with Elgin to Antarctica, ostensibly for closure but privately intending to find Bernadette. The captain’s report gives her a route and a sequence of logged actions to examine. Hope against evidence Elgin sees the report as evidence of a fatal accident. Bee reads the same details as possible signs that her mother planned ahead and might still be alive.

The Search Reaches Palmer The Search Reaches Palmer from "Where'd You Go Bernadette". The Search Reaches Palmer A possible connection A pink penguin drink on the ship links the report to scientists at Palmer Station.

The Search Reaches Palmer from "Where'd You Go Bernadette". The Search Reaches Palmer A possible connection A pink penguin drink on the ship links the report to scientists at Palmer Station.

The Search Reaches Palmer A possible connection A pink penguin drink on the ship links the report to scientists at Palmer Station. Bee and Elgin compare their route with Bernadette’s map and notice a research vessel crossing her ship’s path. A living answer Their unauthorized Zodiac journey brings Bee ashore, where she discovers Bernadette has been working at the station. Their reunion replaces speculation with the first direct answer Bee has found.

At the opening, before Christmas

Mid-November, before Bee’s graduation

After Bernadette disappears, during Bee’s first weeks at school

After Bee leaves Choate, during the later Antarctic summer

Near the end of Bee and Elgin’s voyage