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Go Gentle

The joyful new novel from the author of Where’d You Go Bernadette

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Go Gentle

By: Maria Semple
Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld
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Summary

 The new novel from the bestselling author of Where'd You Go Bernadette

⭐ 'Smart, funny and devastating in a great way' Jennette McCurdy ⭐
⭐ 'I felt both cleverer and sillier after finishing this book' Guardian ⭐
⭐ 'Loaded with Maria Semple's signature wit' Bonnie Garmus ⭐

Adora Hazzard has it all figured out.

A contented divorcée, she relishes her teenage daughter, her job as a moral tutor for an old-money family and the bliss of finally being solo.

Alone but far from lonely, she's also quietly assembling a 'coven' of like-minded single women on the sixth floor of the legendary Ansonia building on New York's Upper West Side. Together, they share groceries, dog walkers - and one dirty little secret: despite their age, they're only just getting started.

Adora's life philosophy is simple: want only what you already have. But could a chance encounter with a charming stranger threaten her joyfully curated life and leave Adora suddenly wanting more - even if she must risk everything to get it?

Go Gentle is a thrilling story of one woman's mid-life transformation, a romance with wit and a globe-trotting mother-daughter story, all wrapped in a mystery with a socko twist.

⭐ 'A wild ride' The Times ⭐
⭐ 'I adored this novel and it made me very happy' Nina Stibbe ⭐
⭐ 'Maria Semple is a treasure' Los Angeles Times ⭐
⭐ 'Funny and clever and sexy and uplifting' Francesca Segal ⭐
⭐ 'Adora Hazzard is a heroine for the ages' Rufi Thorpe ⭐©2026 Maria Semple (P)2026 Orion Publishing Group Limited Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Performing Arts Funny
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Critic reviews

For all those who crave a good page-turner, this is one wild ride of a story that carries equal parts wit and wisdom . . . I laughed out loud for real. And underneath the humor there was always something tender . . . a quiet truth about relationships, identity, and what it means to find peace with yourself (Oprah Winfrey)
Semple has created something rare in Go Gentle: a story that's both deeply intellectual and still accessible. This novel is what happens when someone who understands trauma writes about healing. Smart, funny, and devastating in a great way. Read this book (Jennette McCurdy, bestselling author of I'm Glad My Mom Died)
Highly original and loaded with Maria Semple's signature wit, Go Gentle takes us on a fast, wild ride through the days and nights of a philosopher for whom the meaning of life - and how to get through it - is completely upended by the one thing she never saw coming. Love (Bonnie Garmus, author of Lessons in Chemistry)
I adored this novel and it made me very happy. Go Gentle combines Semple's giant intellect, genius thinking, rich, witty dialogue and screwall comedy. Brimming with big ideas about art and philosophy and questions about the way we live our lives, this is an intricately plotted mystery, intrigue and romance with a glorious cast of characters (Nina Stibbe, author of Love, Nina)
What a delight this witty screwball caper through philosophy, the art world and late-blooming love is (Madeleine Feeny)
Semple writes with immense charm. The book fizzes with funny lines... The book is a zany high-wire act and the main plot, which at times seemed like a shaggy dog story, is ingeniously wrapped up at the end... I felt both cleverer and sillier after finishing this book, which is a lovely way to be left. (Rebecca Wait)
Semple blends intrigue, humour, and irony into a story that splits open one character's life and might just inspire you to make yours a little bigger too. (Ella Ceron)
The main character, Adora, a philosophy teacher for the children of a wealthy Manhattan family, is a brilliant creation - witty, sarcastic, clever - I loved her. (Jo Finney)
Funny and smart, this is exactly the book you need to pack for instant and uplifting escapism (with a touch of #MeToo fury). (Francesca Brown)
The characters are great. Semple's witty, snappy, narrative bowls one happily along, with a sprinkling of Stoic wisdom for good measure. (Wendy Holden)
A wild ride, although an exquisitely plotted one... it is so good to have the extraordinary Maria Semple back. (Andrew Billen)
A madcap caper to tickle your funny bone (Zoe West)
Maria Semple is a treasure
All stars
Most relevant
Funny. Cool older woman heroine. Sassy. Loved it - binged it in a day. The story is a lot of things.

Best book in a while

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I never like to write a negative review, but I felt I should share a few things about this audiobook. First, I listen to a lot of audio books across the whole spectrum from classics, lit fic, genre fic, the lot. I found the story and details of this tricky to follow at times as the narration was a bit fast. With this amount of detail and exposition, it needs to be slower. It was a bit of an unconventional and fanciful story, which is fine, but at times it veered into the absurd. It also attempted to tackle some serious emotive issues of trauma and SA, which sat oddly with some of the other plot elements. I would say that the blurb tells you absolutely nothing about the main substance of the story, or characters. The narrative is peppered with bite size philosophy lessons which may or may not appeal to you. I found this book to be not bad, but as an audiobook, probably needs your full attention so as not to lose the thread of what's happening.

Hard to Describe

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I liked the author’s last book, Where’d You Go Bernadette. Sure it was a bit silly & too whimsical at times, but it was interesting & engaging. This, on the other hand, veers into nonsensical, soapy melodrama way too often. It’s such a shame as parts of the story truly sang - the lead characters backstory for instance. But the action that unfolds is just plain dumb. And don’t get me started on the teenage character. I’m guessing the author hasn’t been a teenager (or met one) for a very very long time 🫠

Crushingly bad follow up

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