Excerpt from Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

If I give you the info, could you pretty please take over the paperwork, visas, plane tickets, everything involved with getting we three from Seattle to the White Continent? Is this something you have time for?

Say yes,

Bernadette

Oh! You already have credit card numbers to pay for airfare, trip, and accoutrements. But in terms of your salary, I'd like you to take it directly out of my personal account. When Elgie saw the Visa charge for your work last month - even though it wasn't much money - he wasn't thrilled that I'd hired a virtual assistant from India. I told him I wouldn't be using you anymore. So, if we could, Manjula, let's keep our romance an illicit one.

?

From: Manjula Kapoor
To: Bernadette Fox

Dear Ms. Fox,

It would be my pleasure to assist you with your family travel plans to Antarctica. Attached please find the contract for moving forward on a full-time basis. Where indicated, please include your bank routing number. I look forward to our continued collaboration.

Warm regards, Manjula

Excerpted from Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple. Copyright 2012 by Maria Semple. Excerpted by permission of Little, Brown and Company.