I let this book sneak up on me! At first it appeared to be just a comic novel about Bernadette, a woman who passive-aggressively stands up to a conformist group of gnat-mothers. Bernadette has got some curious habits (letting roof leaks go unfixed; hiring a "virtual assistant" to handle her online shopping), and her husband, Elgie, is so caught up in his high-profile project at work that he barely notices his wife or his teenage daughter.

The leader of the gnat-mothers is Bernadette's neighbor, Audrey. There's a slapstick episode in which Audrey hosts a school function, and ... I don't want to give it away. It's funny.

We also learn more about the work atmosphere at Microsoft, where Elgie works; there's enough familiar corporatespeak to sound plausible yet utterly ridiculous.

And then the sneakiness happened.

Characters end up on an Antarctic cruise. (Who exactly? I'm not telling.) The grandeur of nature and isolation of place enable characters to strip away the unessential parts of themselves, leading to a lovely conclusion to the novel.