Go Gentle

by Maria Semple

Adora Hazzard has it all figured out. A Stoic philosopher and divorcée, she lives a contented life on New York City’s Upper West Side. Having discovered that the secret to happiness is to desire only what you have, she’s applied this insight to blissful relishing her teenage daughter, the freedom of being solo, and her job as a moral tutor for the twin boys of an old-money family. She’s even assembled a "coven"—like-minded women who live on the same floor in the legendary Ansonia—and is making active efforts to grow its membership. Adora’s carefully curated life is humming along brilliantly until a chance meeting with a handsome stranger.

Soon, her ordered world is upended by black-market art deals, secret rendezvous, and international intrigue . . . and her past—which she has worked so hard to bury—lands like a bomb in her present. Inflamed by unquenchable desire, Adora finds herself a woman wanting and she’ll risk everything to get it.

Adora Hazzard’s journey of self-discovery will grip you from the start. Romantic, hilarious, intelligent, and bursting with the stuff of life, Go Gentle is a thrilling story of one woman’s mid-life transformation, cementing Maria Semple in the pantheon of our most exciting and important contemporary writers.

Genres: Fiction, Audiobook, Romance, Mystery, Literary Fiction, Contemporary, Book Club

384 pages, Hardcover

First published April 14, 2026

About the author

Maria Semple's first novel, This One is Mine, was set in Los Angeles, where she also wrote for television shows including Arrested Development, Mad About You, and Ellen.

Semple was born in Santa Monica, California. Her family moved to Spain soon after she was born. There her father, the screenwriter Lorenzo Semple, Jr., wrote the pilot for the television series Batman. The family moved to Los Angeles and then to Aspen, Colorado. Semple attended boarding school at Choate Rosemary Hall, then received a BA in English from Barnard College in 1986.

Reviews

[Danielle · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was as if the author had three different ideas for a book and couldn't decide which one to write about, so she smushed them all into a single book. The plot that starts out the book with the main character trying to create a "coven" of older women living on the same floor of an apartment building and supporting each other as they grow older together just pretty much disappears and is not really relevant to the rest of the book. The other two main plots eventually tie into each other even though it all seems kind of ridiculous. If the author had settled on one story to pursue this book could have been a lot better than it actually was. It felt way too disjointed as written.

[emma · Rating 3.5 out of 5]

i don't know if literary romance is a genre, but if it is it's my favorite.

likewise i don't know what genre this was, but i know i enjoyed it.

this is so strange and unpredictable that sometimes when i would open my kindle to a new chapter i wondered if i had tapped the wrong book.

it's satirical and literary, with more than a bit of historical and of romance and of mystery/thriller.

this is both a lot to take in and the most fun thing about the book.

it's confusing and it's unusual, sometimes it's silly or unrealistic or hard to believe, but.

bottom line: it is never, ever boring.

(thanks to the publisher for the e-arc)
(3.5)

[Ron Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oprah's New Book Club Pick:

Chances are good that Maria Semple’s Go Gentle will be the only zany comedy about Stoic philosophy published all year.

We haven’t heard from Semple, the celebrated author of Where’d You Go, Bernadette, in a decade, but we haven’t heard from Marcus Aurelius since A.D. 180, which puts her absence in perspective.

In any event, they’re both back now and raring to go.

Semple confesses in a note to readers that she recently went through a divorce and moved to New York while mothering “a fiery teenage girl.” Feeling “all ajumble” but creatively energized, she finally figured out how to write a thriller she’d started and abandoned many times before.

Go Gentle is that thriller, complete with international terrorists, arms deals, and glamorous spies, but it’s also a goofy romantic comedy, so it sometimes sounds like an episode of Sex and the City written by Dan Brown.

The narrator is Adora Hazzard, whose allegorical name is the first clue that this woman loves danger no matter what she claims about craving serenity. Indeed, spending a few days with this character may be the most exhilarating thing you can do for yourself this summer. Every morning she opens her eyes and tells the universe, “Surprise me.”

It obliges....

Read my full review for here:
https://roncharles.substack.com/p/wom...

[Trin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh no. I remember loving Where'd You Go, Bernadette, this author's novel from a decade (!) ago, but this was so bad it's making me doubt my past self.

Semple's humor, and her way, especially, with mother-daughter relationships, seemed fresh in 2016; here, they seem stale and, dare I say, cringe. I literally never want to read another "Election Night 2016" scene in a novel ever again. They are always embarrassing. I also never want to hear a male love interest use the line "not like other girls" IN ALL SERIOUSNESS, IN A SUPPOSED LITERARY NOVEL, IN 2026. Like, are you kidding me?

The characters in this novel are all impossibly stupid and bad at their jobs -- one straight-up admits this before presumably being off-page fired by Interpol. If you like Competence Porn like The Pitt: well, this is the opposite of that. Yet despite everything displayed on-page, we're repeatedly told how brilliant the protagonist is. Uh huh.

This book is also packed with really gross fetishizations and normalizations of wealth: not only does the main character, who owns an apartment in the Upper West Side's Ansonia, seem to think she's middle class, the love interest's extreme wealth is painted as a major point in his favor when the romance is resolved (again, what year is it?). And these weren't the only things that left me feeling icky. Semple also follows that trope common to Marvel movies, etc., where the bad guys actually have a point about something (in this case, the repatriation of stolen art) but are just taking it too far (blowing up the art, which...huh?).

And I'm no art historian, but you really expect me to believe that the plot hinges on the Venus de Milo's actual arms being found and restored? REALLY?

Gently or otherwise: please just make it stop.

1.5 rounded down, because writing this made me madder.

[Dallas Strawn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really have no idea what the actual crap I just read. This is like a blend of four books smooshed together. The first plot was pretty interesting. I was into it. She abandoned it. There’s a new plot. I got bored. There was a time jump into the past I got really interested and then I just got totally lost. Do not recommend whatsoever.

I still believe her to be a fantastic writer stylistically. And I love her culture references. But this was just a mess.

[Dee (in the Desert) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars. No, it isn't "Bernadette" but I did really enjoy this book quite a lot. The mid-life main character and philosopher, Adora Hazzard, is a complex woman with an interesting life, job and living situation, and this one's also a madcap journey, both through the MC's past and also with an absurd situation in the present that's almost a farce. I also learned a lot about stoicism and the old philosophers. Recommend for women needing an escape - especially those "of a certain age"!

[Kelsey reviews•books · Rating 4 out of 5]

▹TL;DR Review: At times this felt like a fever dream—and I didn’t hate it. This has a bit of everything: philosophy, politics, feminism, white-collar crime, mystery, and romance.

▹My ⭐ Rating: ★★★.75 out of 5
▹Format: 📱 eReader
Thank you to NetGalley and Putnam for an advanced e-copy of this book. These opinions are my own. Go Gentle comes out April 21, 2026.
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○★○ What to Expect from This Book: ○★○

– About: Adora Hazzard is a stoic philosopher and recent divorcee living on New York City’s Upper West Side, confident she’s mastered the art of wanting only what she already has. She tutors the twin sons of an old-money family, has a coven of like-minded women in her building, and relishes her solo life—until a chance encounter with a handsome stranger upends her orderly world. Suddenly black-market art deals, secret rendezvous, and buried pasts come crashing in, forcing Adora to risk everything to discover what she really wants.
– Location: New York City, NY / LA / Paris
– POV: Single third-person
– Spice: A open and closed-door scenes (not overly explicit, but could make some uncomfortable)
– Tropes: midlife changes, philosophical quest, Stoicism, Amor Fati, art world antics, single mom, romance subplot
– Content warning: (POSSIBLE SPOILERS) suicide attempt, terrorist attempts, body image issues, divorce, infidelity, sexual misconduct in a workplace, class tension, art-world black-market, existential crisis, US politics in the last 10 years, being stalked, narcissistic parent
– Representation: women supporting women, mid-life FMC, #metoo

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↻ ◁ || ▷ ↺ 1:00 ──ㅇ────── 4:12

Now Playing: Que Sera, Sera by Doris Day

╰┈➤ ❝Que sera, sera, whatever will be, will be; The future's not ours to see; Que sera, sera❞

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★○ If You Like the Following, You Might Like This Book ○★

➼ Books that lean into the philosophical, like The Stranger by Albert Camus, The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin, and Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
➼ Modern stories that include recent political and social events, from the 2016 US Presidential Election to the #metoo movement to mentions of the Kardashians and Pharrell
➼ Creating a coven of women who support each other

─────────────────────────

⍟»This or That«⍟

Character Driven—————✧——————Plot Driven
Fast Burn————————✧———Slow Burn
Sweet—————✧——————Spicy
Light/Fluffy———————✧————Heavy/Emotional

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🎯 My Thoughts:

I’ll admit it—I picked up this book for the cover first and the description second. A coven of like-minded women in NYC? Sign me up. As a pretentious New Yorker who has never actually lived there (Midwest born and raised), I loved living vicariously through Adora and her fellow Manhattanites. But this story goes far beyond its aesthetic or setting.

Adora put me through an entire emotional spectrum: annoyance, anger, camaraderie, intrigue, pity, reflection. She’s a woman shaped by a narcissistic parent, who becomes a comedy-writer-turned-philosophy-convert after trauma, then becomes a mother navigating an era of political chaos, and a tutor teaching wealthy New York boys how to think. Following her life sometimes felt like a fever dream, but Maria Semple weaves these threads together into a surprisingly cohesive tapestry—one many readers will recognize pieces of. And honestly? She may have converted me to Stoicism.

One of my favorite elements was the way pop-culture references were juxtaposed with philosophy. I’m sure plenty of nuance flew over my head, but I loved the delightful clash of arts, humanities, relationships, crime, politics—and the romance subplot didn’t hurt, either.

Would I Recommend?: Not to everyone. But if you enjoy following a complex woman juggling motherhood, marriage, vocation, and identity—only to have it all upended by a white-collar art crime—this is absolutely worth your time. It’s different from my usual picks, but I’d happily read more from this author.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Stoics aren't obvious fodder for comedy, but Maria Semple isn't your average comic novelist. Her novels have moments of laugh-out-loud brilliance, not surprising given her time spent on the magnificent TV series, "Arrested Development," but there is also an undercurrent of wistfulness and inchoate unease in her work. Such is the case with her welcome new novel, "Go Gentle," the title a reference to the Dylan Thomas poem in which he urges us not to go quietly, but to rage "against the dying of the light." The novel revolves around Adora Hazard, a bestselling philosopher who helps people try and live a serene life by following the wisdom of the Greek stoics. She has a teen daughter, female friends in her West Side apartment complex -- her self-proclaimed coven -- and two young kids she tutors who come from a family with more money than small nations. Life is calm, a little dull, until. . .she may have come across a dangerous arms deal and a peculiar Greek statue. And the screwball pyrotechnics commence. It's a delight -- but Semple is so smart that she never lets us forget the human stakes, and the real reason (which is devastating) behind our philosopher's tattoo.

[Kelly (and the Book Boar) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Talk about a bait and switch! At this point do I even have to say I went into this blind? In case I do I just said it. I still think of Bernadette sometimes and watch reruns of Arrested Development when I need a pick me up so grabbing Maria Semple’s most recent release was a real no brainer.

And boy did it start out so strong with our leading lady organizing a “coven” of other 50-something, single women who all have bought into the same apartment building with the goal of aging in place together. FANTASTIC!

But then things quickly detoured to what I’m assuming was a semi-autobiographical story of Semple’s time as a writer at SNL and then the train FURTHER derailed into a caper regarding stolen artwork.

I know this author presents a quirky story, but unfortunately I was only interested in quirky story one and not the other two that were thrown in to the mix and which barely even came together. I also REALLY didn’t vibe with this kick ass successful single lady falling in instalove with kind of a scumbag of a guy and his apparently magic peen. Literally ew, David … or Digby since he insisted on that dumbass nickname.

[NILTON TEIXEIRA · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Go Gentle”, by Maria Semple

3 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (great concept, terrific main character, some funny interactions, but the development of the story seems to have lost direction)

This was my second book by this author, after “Where'd You Go, Bernadette”, which I loved.

I was expecting the same level of entertainment.

The writing was really good and enjoyable, especially the author’s sense of humour, and I absolutely loved the main character and her interactions with the others.

The first 25% got me hooked right away, which only increased my expectations.

Although I loved the concept, I thought that the author lost focus or direction. There was just too much going on. I really wished she had kept focused on the coven plot, which I thought was very interesting. I would have skipped the romance part, if I could, but then I would have missed some good moments.

I did appreciate learning about stoic philosophy and I found it interesting.

Anyways, lots of topics and plenty of thought provoking ideas, but the development of the story was very uneven and a bit chaotic.

By the last 25% I had lost interest, but I persevered.

Honestly, I’m surprised that this was Oprah’s pick of the month. I could see Reese picking this title, but…

Anyways, never mind me, as there are plenty of wonderful 5 stars reviews.

[Angie Miale · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is chaotic- with bizarre structure and pacing, it seems to break all the rules of contemporary fiction writing, and yet I loved it. The main character Adora refuses to be categorized, much like the genre. Plenty of twists, time jumps and character building at random.

Adora is an “in house philosopher” for a generational wealthy Manhattan elite family. She is a divorced woman who has lived through different “lifetimes” and is forever changed by the American landscape and the traumas she has overcome. I related to her on a visceral level- and my highlighter got a workout as I kept underlining and writing “THIS” in the margin.

My guess is it will be a Book of the Month selection.

This book won’t be universally loved, but please read it, especially if you meet the following;

-a lady over 40
-feminist
-interested is philosophy
-would like to be in a coven
-like reading about modern Manhattan

Thanks to NetGalley and Putnam for the ARC. Book to be published April 13, 2026.

[bookswithmaddi · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was very frustrating to me. The way it's marketed and what it turns out to be are very different, but not the main problem. Where I expected a love letter to philosophy and female friendship, I found a lackluster mix of mystery and romance. The book begins with the themes I expected; it is a philosophical emergence out of dependency on a man, it feels fresh and important (I imagine even more so to Semple's main audience), but it quickly derails into what feels like poorly written fan fiction.

My main critique of the book lies in the romance. Without giving too much away, I'll say our main character, Adora, finds herself dazzled by the mysterious Digby, a man she happens to meet at a night out to the opera. She pours into him long-neglected desires, hopes, and expectations, as we all often find ourselves doing. However, it quickly turns from relatable to fanatic. She says things about him along the lines of "craving his violence" and that "loving myself and loving him were one and the same." These are extreme statements for a normal person, but for a well-educated middle-aged woman who is an expert in moral philosophy, these ponderings are ridiculous. This is where it began to feel like fan fiction to me. Once Digby entered the story, Adora's character fell apart. He (successfully) attempts to win her over by writing a letter where he verbatim says, "she's not like other girls," even though 1) he is talking about a full-grown woman and 2) this statement has aged ridiculously poorly and has been well known to be shallow and offensive for years now. He also stalks her, berates her, and blows up her phone after she rejects him for lying to her. It leans heavily on the reality that most fan fiction slots into, in which a woman perfectly knows that this kind of stalking is safe and meant out of love and dedication rather than violence and obsession. By the end of the book, I found Adora unbelievable, ridiculous, and inconsistent. It wasn't the kind of inconsistency that makes her interesting, human, or flawed; it just felt...stupid.

Despite all of this, I really did almost give the book three stars. Semple does have a talent for moving a story along in increasingly interesting ways. But then A.I. popped up. While issuing an apology, Adora admits offhandedly (and without regret) that she used A.I. to craft the apology. Philosophers (especially moral philosophers) are some of the greatest advocates against the use of A.I. To posit that a moral philosopher as strong-willed as Adora would use A.I. for anything, much less for an apology, shows how disconnected the author really is from the things that she is writing about.

And finally, the ending. I will write as carefully as I can without spoiling anything, but most people looking through reviews of this book will see that romance plays a significant role. To suggest that a woman, or anyone for that matter, is in some way deficient or incomplete without romantic love is, at best, offensive and at worst problematic. To suggest that the coven, which Adora so beautifully and thoughtfully crafted, is not significant enough for someone to live happily alongside is just depressing. It suggests to me that the author lives in a world where she relies so desperately on male approval and romantic love that she cannot see the value in genuine, real friendship. By the end of the book, it felt like a completely different author was writing than the person who had described Adora's joy over the coven in the beginning. There is nothing wrong with romantic love, but it doesn't complete a person. It adds on. There is no point in our lives where we are made half by the absence of romance. It's a disconcerting suggestion, especially in a book that so heavily relies on stoicism and moral philosophy. I'm beyond disappointed in this novel.

[Shannon Cox · Rating 1 out of 5]

What on earth did I just read? I have no idea what this book was about. There were so many plots trying to intertwine. I wanted to DNF this book so many times but I was reading it for a book club. My friend is hosting in a week so I wanted to be sure to finish it. Had it not been for this book club, there is no possible way I would’ve ever finished this book. It is that bad. Maybe it was the writing. Maybe it was the author’s constant need for everyone to know that she was a raging liberal. Don’t forget to write that you’re going to Chick-fil-A but you hate them because of the politics. So stupid. The main character was a self-righteous, narcissistic, unlikable twat. And her daughter, who learned from the best, was the same personality, but a whiney teenage stereotypical version. Selfish and emotional. After her mother described her sexual assault, her response was… Can we go now? The love interest was boring. The constant need to speak French to show everyone how cultured the author is and how much she knew about Paris was laughable. How on earth did Oprah decide this was a book club read ? Maybe because she is also a Trump hater and so she wanted to feel connected to other Trump haters and it was a whole chapter about why she divorced her husband and it all had to do with Trump. Even though her husband did not vote for Trump! What did this have to do with the storyline anyway? Why did politics even need to be intertwined? So far I have read about three dozen books in 2026 and this is literally at the bottom of the barrel. Absolute garbage. So sad I will not get this time back in my life that I wasted reading this piece of crap book. It’s like she had an idea for four different books with four different plots and then decided that she didn’t have time to write them all so she would make them into one story. I don’t know why I’m so furious with myself for finishing this book, but I truly am. 😂😂.

[Jacqueline Barba · Rating 1 out of 5]

genuinely what even was that

[Lisa (NY)]

I listened to almost half of this novel but it wasn't for me. The zaniness felt forced.

[Ayshwarya · Rating 2 out of 5]

What am I missing here? This book feels like a trip and not in a good way. The author had 3 plots and maybe not enough time so she decided to just merge them all?

I guess I liked the philosophy elements. There was not nearly enough coven (for future reference I would read a whole book just about a coven)

Also, Oprah book club? Really? How?!

[Donna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Mishmash mess.

[abby :) · Rating 4 out of 5]

if you read the synopsis for this book and think you'll be prepared for what's to come, i promise you won't...

this author is very, very popular because of where'd you go bernadette, but i've never read that so i had no idea what to expect from this book. honestly requesting the arc feels like a very strange decision on my part but i will never read something like this again so it was worth it. from just the first ten percent, i was hooked on the uniqueness of semple's writing. her prose is so individual and i was glued to the page because i truly had no idea what was coming. i am 100% sure i did not read the synopsis because the words "arms deal" hit the page and i was gobsmacked.

at its core, this book is about adora and all the insane things she gets up to at her insane job as an in-house philosopher. we also learn about the coven she is creating, a bunch of single women in their 40s-60s living in an apartment building together and splitting costs, her relationship with her daughter, her past, and digby. what shocked me the most wasn't the black market, art history of it all, it was the chapters of adora as a comedy writer. that section of the novel felt completely separate from the rest and i don't totally know how to feel about some of the reveals we get about people from that time. i am looking at one nda lawyer specifically... i will never be able to form a solid opinion on him.

i will however, be thinking about this book forever. this may be because i genuinely cannot feel like i understood what i read, even as we got answers i was just so shocked at the overall plot that i couldn't focus on what was being told to me. this review feels weird because its so vague but if you're looking for a fiction novel that takes you on an insane ride, while also updating your knowledge on stoicism, this is your book. also reliving 2016 politics was not fun and did bring my stomach to my throat, the friend that told adora she would've divorced hal immediately for his joke, me too girl. adora inviting hal to the event in the end honestly threw me, get his weird ass outta here.

*thank you putnam and netgalley for the copy!*

[Jessica Woodbury · Rating 3 out of 5]

I suspect the readers who enjoyed Bernadette will also enjoy this. It's very heavy/light and high/low but Semple is adept at zigging and zagging through tones. As for me, I thought its rather madcap antics were fun but I got tired of the book around halfway through when I realized where we were headed.

The thing is, this book starts with Adora having made peace with her divorce and living with her "coven," a group of other single 50+ women who all live on the same floor of her building. Their plan is to grow old together, to take care of each other, to pool resources the way couples are usually only allowed to do. And to me, most of Adora's life in this moment is pretty perfect. Where would we go? But the book thinks that this is not good. That this is nothing to aspire to. That what Adora really needs is a good man.

The parts of this book that were not about man>>>coven where nice enough. You do not learn until a good way into the book that there is a big part of Adora's past that she has run from and pushed down and never wants to think about again. It feels a bit out of left field, but I did like how Semple lets her have these wildly different chapters of her life. I don't know how much of the timing of this book is intentional, but it certainly is a reminder of the ways MeToo has failed, and it certainly hits differently than it would have 5 years ago.

At the end things just get a little too pat. A little too let's tie up every single loose end, even the ones you weren't thinking about. And having Adora have to learn a nice little lesson about using stoicism as a defense mechanism felt so simplistic after the heavier parts of the story. But it will give you that breeziness that still has some weight from Bernadette.

[Michael Burke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finding Too Many Paths

“Go Gentle” follows Adora Hazzard, a divorcée and Stoic philosopher whose carefully ordered life in New York is upended by a handsome stranger, romance, and international intrigue.

While Maria Semple's novel is bursting with her trademark wit and funny lines, its greatest flaw is a wildly scattered plot that incorporates too many disparate ideas. The book is a blend of a philosophical treatise on Stoicism, a goofy mid-life romantic comedy, a story about a "coven" of middle-aged women in Manhattan, and an international art heist thriller.

The narrative is marred by frustratingly erratic shifts between its various plotlines, suggesting the author pursued too many competing directions. Early on, the story of Adora forming a "coven" is quite compelling, yet it eventually fades away, overshadowed by a screwball mystery that clashes awkwardly with a dense, 80-page flashback about a serious past trauma. This lack of focus often left me bewildered, questioning if I was even reading the same book I had begun.

In the end, the book feels like a chaotic three-ring circus. Although I thoroughly enjoyed large portions of the narrative—often laughing out loud at Semple’s biting, eccentric wit—the dizzying journey makes it difficult for the story to truly come together, despite a clever resolution to the main plot.

Thank you to G. P. Putnam’s Sons and NetGalley for providing an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review. #GoGentle #NetGalley

[The Lit Homebody · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grabbed it on a whim at the bookstore after the first paragraph hooked me. It truly surprised me and I absolutely loved it!

[Christine Garrow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maria Semple’s Go Gentle pulled me in immediately with the Dylan Thomas quote: “Do not go gentle into that good night.” It promises rebellion against aging, invisibility, and surrender, and in many ways that is exactly what this novel explores—though often in messier, stranger, and more frustrating ways than I expected.

The idea of the “coven” fascinated me right away: older women choosing to live together for practical and emotional survival because so many women never remarry after divorce or abandonment. There’s something both funny and deeply sad about how normalized this arrangement feels to them. The protagonist, Jo, seems almost startled by the possibility of romance when she meets a charming older man, only to discover their meeting was orchestrated so he could use her to deliver a letter to one of the women in the coven. Even late in life, women in this story are still expected to perform emotional labor for men.

The novel then circles back through Jo’s earlier life: her ambitions as a television writer, the sexual assault that derails her career, the NDA that silences her, and the quieter collapse that follows. Eventually she rebuilds herself as a philosophy professor, wife, and mother, only to have her husband leave her for another family. What struck me most is how calmly she absorbs these betrayals. I kept wanting her to rage more openly at the unfairness of it all, but perhaps that resignation is part of the point. Women are so often conditioned to accommodate, smooth things over, and survive rather than explode.

No matter where Jo goes, misogyny follows. Hollywood, academia, marriage, family life—it simply changes outfits. What frustrated me as a reader was also what made the book feel painfully recognizable: Jo constantly reshapes herself to fit what others expect from her. Yet I understood her too well. Existing as a woman in the world often means learning how to endure things you should never have had to tolerate in the first place.

The family tensions surrounding the 2016 election also felt sharply real. Semple captures how political divisions expose deeper beliefs about gender, power, and whose voices society is willing to trust. The book quietly argues that the patriarchy survives not because it is subtle, but because it is exhausting.

As the story moves toward France and the increasingly bizarre revelations surrounding the letter and Jo’s late-life romance, the novel becomes almost absurd in ways I struggled to fully believe. Still, beneath the chaos is a woman finally beginning to admit she wants love, dignity, and connection instead of merely settling for survival. Some of Jo’s worst moments—especially how she lashes out at her daughter—feel less like cruelty and more like desperation from someone trying to convince herself that wisdom and intellect can compensate for emotional emptiness.

In the end, Go Gentle is funny, uncomfortable, maddening, and strangely compassionate. It’s about how women adapt themselves to survive systems that rarely reward them for authenticity, and how easy it becomes to mistake endurance for fulfillment. The novel’s final emotional honesty hit harder for me than its twists. Maybe the real message is not simply to “rage against the dying of the light,” but to recognize that love, anger, pride, and vulnerability are still worth claiming at any age. Or, as my late grandmother who was born in 1920 often said, “don’t be kind unless it is fitting.”

[Hilary Petrello · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hated this book. Why are people raving about it? I should’ve learned my lesson after Where’d You Go, Bernadette. Adora ends up with a POS condescending a-hole of a man who treats her like every other man in her life has, and therefore she has learned nothing and goes right back to being walked all over. A man who enjoys executing NDAs for women who have been sexually assaulted by high powered men? I didn’t find this romantic as many reviewers did, nor do I find the book to be about love. Unless it’s actually about never loving yourself even up until the end of your life. And maybe sort of loving your kid even though you treat them like your mother treated you when you know it’s wrong and traumatizing because you LIVED it. I also find it repugnant that this so called philosopher pick-me heroine, who harps on virtue and being a good person, genuinely loves the disgustingly rich elitist out of touch with the rest of the world family she works for. For a wannabe philosopher, Adorra is really shallow and lacking what actually makes you a good person. I don’t see healing in this book, like other reviewers. I see settling, once again.

[cyd · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review. This book was messy to say the least and not in the fun way. There was way to much going on and way to many topics the author attempted to cover but unfortunately none of them landed. This felt very millennial and i am not that so maybe this just wasn’t for me? To be fair I didn’t like where’d you go bernadette either and only requested this book because the cover was cool. I did like the parts with her daughter but the overall plot was confusing for more reason. I wanted way more coven way less gun trade.

[Linda · Rating 2.5 out of 5]

2.5 stars ⭐⭐½

I really wanted to like Go Gentle. A middle-aged Stoic philosopher living in NYC with her teenage daughter and a “coven” of single friends gets pulled into a bizarre mystery involving a handsome stranger, wealthy clients, suspicious artwork, and possible international intrigue. Yes.

Unfortunately, reading it was a slog.

Maria Semple’s writing is witty and Adora has a lovely narrative voice, but the story felt like three different books fighting for custody of my attention. The lengthy detour into her past especially killed the momentum, and I spent way too much time wondering when we were getting back to the actual plot.

To its credit, the ending is genuinely clever. All those seemingly random pieces eventually snap together in a way that made me appreciate what Semple was doing.

I just wish I hadn’t been so bored getting there.

2.5 stars. And yes, I’m going gentle. 😂

[Meagan (Meagansbookclub) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one missed the mark for me, though it definitely had its moments. I loved the premise and there were flashes of humor and insight that reminded me why I enjoy Maria Semple’s writing, but overall it felt a bit unfocused. The present-day storyline lacked a strong throughline, and much of the book wandered without really building momentum. While I appreciated some of Adora’s reflections and the quirky side characters, it never fully came together in a satisfying way. A mixed read for me.

[Kerrin · Rating 4 out of 5]

review to come

[Toni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding! Intrigue, mystery, humor, philosophy and huge art deals.

Basics: New York City
The Ansonia
Former comedy writer
Current Philosopher (professor and moral tutor for young twin boys of wealthy family.
Divorced and not looking for a mate.
Sex is naturally acceptable with a willing partner.

Adora Hazzard works for the wealthy Lockwood family in NYC as a moral tutor to their twin sons and at their Lockwood Museum. Layla and Lionel are old money New Yorkers trying to do their part for the art world on the Upper West Side.

Lionel was seriously injured in a climbing accident and is in a wheelchair with limited mobility. Layla tries to do everything possible to make her husband’s life more interesting. That includes a total remodel of their townhouse into a glass structure complete with elevators and a tunnel under the street to their museum.

Layla has plans to purchase and ship an ancient statue from France to their home in the US. Suspicions are aroused by this unknown statue and the French woman they’re purchasing it from. She is on the Board of the Louvre plus her father was instrumental in getting art pieces back from the trove of art stolen by the Nazis.

Adora somehow meets a man at the ballet that might be involved in this deal and has a night of wild, wonderful sex with him. Ravi, a curator for the museum is the most suspicious.

The story moves quickly with characters involved in many aspects of the art world and fabulous quotes by ancient philosophers. No one is who they appear to be. Fun! Kept me guessing to the last sentence.


Thanks Edelweiss and Atria.

[Lindsay L]

DNF @ 40%

This is not a good fit for me. I like the idea of divorced and/or widowed women buying apartments in same buildings to create a network of support. However, the other parts of the plot - extreme artsy focus, forced cheesy humour and strange sexual descriptions - didn’t work for me. I did not like any of the characters. I am not the right reader.

Audio rating: 3.5 stars. The audio narrator was decent enough but some voice changes sounded awkward. The audio narrator did not enhance anything for me. I suggest the physical version if you’re going to try this one out.

[Britany · Rating 3.5 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up for GR

This book had all the makings of a favorite and then jumped the shark a bit on the end. A fifty something, best dressed Queen, teacher of philosophy and leader of the Ansonia Coven - what dreams are made of. I was hoping it would focus more on the coven parts, but I enjoyed the quips and the sharp writing. I was cackling the first third and found myself talking about this book to everyone I ran into. Then we moved into Part 3 about Adora (best character name EVER) growing up as a comedy writer on Laugh Riot and SNL-esque show, gave us the background and then ended up involved in #RichPeopleProblems in an art heist in Paris.

This was a little all over the place for it to land as strong as it took off, and I'm not sure where we were going by the end. Adora Hazzard won my heart in the beginning and dropped me off at the bus shelter by the end.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.