Go Gentle: Oprah's Book Club

By: Maria Semple

Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB • “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 learned so much about Stoicism—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

"Maria Semple is a treasure." —Los Angeles Times

The New York Times bestselling author of Where'd You Go, Bernadette returns to form in her most exuberant and life-affirming novel yet with the story of one woman’s cheerful determination to live a life of the mind only to have the heart force its way in.

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 effect: 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 more: 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.

Good story, but gets a little boring

The details are a little much, but the character’s storylines are interesting enough. Good narration, good character development, interesting topic

An Unforgettable and Captivating Read

This book was absolutely amazing. The story was captivating, emotional, and kept me interested from beginning to end.

Average at best

I don’t care for the narrator’s voice. It was irritating to me. The story had some good parts but overall it was spotty and difficult to follow. The ending was storybook. Overall, it was just ok.

Go Gentle In the End

The book appeared to be fragmented. I felt like I was reading several books at once. Characters kept popping up with me being unaware. I kept wanting to join the parts together, but I couldn't. I felt this book was not one of my favorites in her collection. Yet the end I am glad the family was settled and she was happy with her life.

I liked the redemption theme.

To me the plot was hard to follow and disjointed as it relates to the art object.