Go Gentle

'A fresh, flamboyantly witty voice' Helen Fielding, author of Bridget Jones's Diary

Adora Hazzard has it all figured out. A Stoic philosopher and divorcee, she lives amongst friends and culture on New York's Upper West Side, and works for the ultra-wealthy and secretive Lockwood family as a private ethics tutor for their tween boys. Her main life hack - and the key to her own enviable happiness - is to desire only what you have. Everything else life throws at you? Don't just accept it; love it. Amor Fati. Adora believes it so deeply she has it tattooed on her wrist.

When Adora meets Johnny, a handsome stranger at the ballet, she finds herself loving fate indeed. Soon, she's pulled into a world of secret rendezvous, black-market art deals and international intrigue. Driven by an unexpected and maddening desire, Adora risks reputation, job and hard-won serenity for the feelings Johnny has awoken in her.

Go Gentle is a romance with wit, a page-turner of ideas, a globe-trotting mother-daughter story, all wrapped inside a mystery with a socko twist. Maria Semple has created another hilarious and unforgettable heroine.