Go Gentle: Oprah's Book Club by Maria Semple

Go Gentle: Oprah's Book Club

Paperback – Large Print, April 14, 2026

Maria Semple

Diversified Publishing · Paperback · April 14, 2026

"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.

Buy on Amazon

We earn from qualifying purchases.

Who it’s for
Readers interested in mid-life transformation stories
Themes
self-discovery, romance, philosophy
Pacing
Mixed

About this book

"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.

Continue reading

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.

Who it’s for

  • Readers interested in mid-life transformation stories
  • Fans of intelligent, romantic, and humorous contemporary fiction

Where it sits

Later-Life Romance65%
Literary Fiction35%
Women's Fiction28%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • Funny Fiction
  • Literary Fiction
  • Family Life
Authors
Maria Semple
Publisher
Diversified Publishing
Published
April 14, 2026
Format
Paperback
Theme
self-discovery · romance · philosophy
Reading lane
Funny Fiction