Go Gentle

What a delight this witty screwball caper through philosophy, the art world and late-blooming love is

Bookseller

Maria Semple's fourth novel is an utterly charming charm novel and it filled me with whimsy and joy . . . It is an utter delight, and one of my favourite books I've read this year. As soon as I finished, I jumped onto Vinted and bought all her others. Bring on Semple summer

Pandora Sykes

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.

GUARDIAN

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.

HARPER'S BAZAAR, Books everyone will be talking about in 2026

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.

GOOD HOUSEKEEPING

Funny and smart, this is exactly the book you need to pack for instant and uplifting escapism (with a touch of #MeToo fury).

STYLIST

Maria Semple's Go Gentle combines smart humour, reflections on optimising later life, intellectual depth and romance . . . You'll laugh and learn.

Guardian 'What To Read this Summer'

The characters are great. Semple's witty, snappy, narrative bowls one happily along, with a sprinkling of Stoic wisdom for good measure.

DAILY MAIL

A wild ride, although an exquisitely plotted one... it is so good to have the extraordinary Maria Semple back.

THE TIMES

A madcap caper to tickle your funny bone

WOMAN & HOME

Maria Semple is a treasure

LA Times

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

Gary Shteyngart, author of Vera, or Faith and Our Country Friends

I couldn't have loved this unbelievable treat of a novel more. Funny and clever and sexy and uplifting

Francesca Segal

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

Rufi Thorpe, author of Margo’s Got Money Troubles

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

Washington Post

A charming read

CLOSER

A bona fide caper

GRAZIA

Delightfully zany

New York Post

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

Time Magazine

A novel that's unlike anything we've read before -and all the better for it!

THE SUN ON SUNDAY, FABULOUS MAGAZINE

Go Gentle is generous, gorgeously wacky and raucously funny. Adora's approach to midlife is a fabulous antidote to the ads for collagen and anti-ageing cream which saturate social media... If you're looking for a kooky, charming companion for days when you're feeling a little dull, you'll love this. Zinging with one-liners and whirlwind energy, Go Gentle will give you the shake up you need.

CRIB NOTES

Wild storytelling powers this fun, chaotic ride of a novel from the author of Where'd You Go, Bernadette... Glorious, immersive and tender.

SAINSBURY'S MAGAZINE

A romcom caper of art heists, jet-setting and buried trauma. Empathetic charm and irresistible wit keep an exuberant plot in check.

MAIL ON SUNDAY

As you'd expect from the author of the unforgettable Where'd You Go Bernadette? Maria Semple's latest romp of a book is spectacularly madcap, full of wit, cleverness and spiky questions aimed at society's (dull, predictable) norms - whether it's the patriarchy, the pitfalls of parenting teens or morality itself... Fizzing, pacy and anchored by a darkly motivating episode from Adora's past, Go Gentle is a rollicking read that will make you consider the choices we make and behaviours we accept from those around us. And although it feels like it won't all come together at the end, Semple manages it with aplomb.

PRESS ASSOCIATION

A slapstick art heist, witty, whip-smart observations, and a love interest full of crossed wires, and you've got a madcap caper that might just tickle your funny bone.

WOMAN'S WEEKLY

This book will leave you with a smile on your face!

BELLA