Breakaway Books

Authored by Maria Semple; Published April 2026; Fiction

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 🏖️🏖️🏖️

I have to love a book that somehow manages to make me care about Stoicism. I couldn’t have predicted the direction of Go Gentle, and I definitely didn’t think I would love it as much as I did.

In Go Gentle, Adora Hazzard has gotten her peace the hard way: sexual assault, a suicide attempt, and then a pivot to studying philosophy. Stoicism has freed her to be happy simply by desiring less. It’s all going swimmingly in her cushy job teaching philosophy to the young scions of a wealthy New York family, until she is accosted by a prospective date and asked to betray their trust. This request pulls her into nothing less than a web of international intrigue, terrorism, and art theft. More than that, it awakens desires in Adora that she has long forgotten. What will Adora choose for her future?

I really don’t know how to categorize this novel. I settled for fiction, but there are elements of romance, of espionage, of philosophical meandering. Somehow, it all blends together into something lovely and appealing. Adora’s evolution is beautiful, and I mostly enjoyed her tongue-in-cheek narration. What I found truly amazing is almost at the exact point when Adora’s sarcastic tone started to grate on me, her daughter confronts her with nearly the exact points I had in my mind about Adora’s detached feeling of superiority to the unwashed, non-philosophical plebeians. I think highly of an author who is observant enough to understand precisely how their heroine comes across to the reader and then gives said reader a voice within the novel. The moment that Adora realizes that philosophy is not quite enough is not one that I will soon forget, and it deeply moved me. Adora’s budding romantic relationship is clearly secondary to the way she is transforming herself.

The art heist/international terrorism aspect of this plot is, sure, slightly ridiculous, so it is perfect as a B plot to Adora’s starring storyline. But show me a plot that connects a ridiculously rich but idiosyncratic family, a violent group targeting western art museums, and a mediator who made his fortune in the baby carrot industry, and I’m in, if only to see what wild ride connects all those topics. I’m surprised and delighted at how many ancient philosophers the author manages to name-drop in such an action-packed story. The events that push Adora toward philosophy are much more depressing, and unfortunately unsurprising in this Me Too era. I can’t recommend the book for anyone who shudders and does their best to avoid the latest Hollywood scandal about a producer/director/actor with wandering hands.

I know I’ve failed to capture the totality of Go Gentle in this review. You’ll just have to go pick it up yourself to enjoy.