As a novel, Where'd You Go, Bernadette was a best seller in 2012; now Boyhood director Richard Linklater is in talks to helm the movie version. The book is a true Seattle tale in a way that, say, Fifty Shades of Gray never was: Bernadette mocks five-way stops and the Microsoft shuttle, passive-aggressiveness, and the Seattle Freeze. Plus there's an extended dis of Daniel’s Broiler.

Who should play the nutty characters created by Maria Semple, a writer who penned Arrested Development episodes before she traded LA for Seattle? Our ideas:

Bernadette Fox: The architect-turned-housewife is thoughtless, disdainful, and utterly baffled by Seattle life. It's likely to be a coveted role, seeing as Linklater’s last leading lady won an Oscar. We bet Rosamund Pike, fresh off a prickly role in Gone Girl, makes the short list, and we like this case for Helena Bonham Carter. But for homemaking ennui and blank disregard, we'd cast the erstwhile Nancy Botwin of Weeds, Mary-Louise Parker. 

Elgin Branch: A Microsoft TED Talker who rides a recumbent bike: Bernadette's husband is a special kind of Seattle sexy. Could Linklater regular Ethan Hawke play nerdy enough? Maybe not. So a stealth pick: David Thewlis. He just looks Microsofty.

Bee Branch: The only sane person in the book is the eighth grader whose parents are both kinda nuts. Kaitlyn Dever, who's done turns on Justified and, uh, Last Man Standing could pull off 15 years old. But can she play a Seattle teenager? Yep: Her bit part in Lynn Shelton's Emerald City dramedy Laggies was the film's highlight. 

Audrey Griffin: Bernadette's neighbor and fellow prep school parent is slightly unhinged, thanks to battles over blackberry bushes. To be fair, it's the one weed that could definitely start World War III. Dig deep in the Linklater backlist, all the way to Dazed and Confused, for the perfect actress to play a manic suburbanite: Parker Posey.

Manjula Kapoor: Bernadette hires a remote virtual assistant from New Dehli and only communicates with her via email, so in theory the ultraefficient Kapoor wouldn’t appear on screen. But she’s basically Bernadette’s only friend, and the role is too juicy to be relegated to some on-screen text. We call for voiceover by Archie Panjabi of The Good Wife fame. Sure, Kapoor turns out to be not quite what she seems, but Panjabi’s Kalinda sure wasn’t either.

Cliff Mass: His weather reports make a cameo. Clearly the only person the play Cliff Mass is Cliff Mass.