Go Gentle
On sale
14th April 2026
Price: £20
⭐ 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
Reviews
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
Manic and frank, playful and wise, Go Gentle rampages through reality, giving us glimpses into Hollywood writer's rooms, the lives of the fabulously wealthy New York elite, art heists and philosophical debates, but perhaps most preciously it allows us to glimpse a vision of cronehood as empowering and sexy and fun. Adora Hazzard is a heroine for the ages
What a delight this witty screwball caper through philosophy, the art world and late-blooming love is
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.
In her new novel, her fourth, a divorced woman named Adora Hazzard is enjoying life with her teenage daughter and a 'coven' of friends on the same floor of her building on New York's Upper West Side. She is not looking for love, and so Semple gives it to her, sparking events that show off the author's trademark hilarious chaos
A charming read
The characters are great. Semple's witty, snappy, narrative bowls one happily along, with a sprinkling of Stoic wisdom for good measure.
I couldn't have loved this unbelievable treat of a novel more. Funny and clever and sexy and uplifting
Delightfully zany
This is the kind of book I dream of. Hilarious, urbane, touching but never sentimental and just brilliantly plotted. It's about so many things - art world shenanigans, toxic Hollywood writer rooms, stoic philosophers, and above all, love, love, love. Maria Semple graces her readers with the intrigue, wisdom and belly laughs we deserve
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
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
Funny and smart, this is exactly the book you need to pack for instant and uplifting escapism (with a touch of #MeToo fury).
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.
The best-selling author of Where'd You Go, Bernadette blends the sensual with the sinister in a romp through the museums and maisonettes of genteel Manhattan
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
Maria Semple is a treasure
A wild ride, although an exquisitely plotted one... it is so good to have the extraordinary Maria Semple back.
A madcap caper to tickle your funny bone
A bona fide caper
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.