An explosion at London's British Museum sets off the exhilarating drama of Go Gentle by Maria Semple, narrated by a New Yorker who finds herself at the center of an international art heist connected to her employer. The story is set amid the whimsical grandeur of a prestigious Manhattan address with scenic detours to a French chateau, attractive backdrops for an adventure swirling with art world mystique, comedy, and middle-aged sexual exploits.
Adora Hazzard is a resident philosopher at the swanky Lockwood Library museum. Its fabulously wealthy owners, Layla and Lionel Lockwood, live in a massive glass structure with a statuary garden and guards who are ex-Mossad agents. When readers meet them, the Lockwoods have acquired a valuable French statue of questionable provenance. Adora's duties extend to providing "moral training" to the couple's twin sons in scenes that showcase Semple's abundant wit, as when the boys learn to apply Plato's four virtues to their disagreement over a pair of "garish" limited-edition Louis Vuitton sneakers.
Across Central Park, Adora resides on the seventh floor of the renowned Ansonia building with her "reliably irritable" teen daughter, Viv; their dog, Mr. Manl; and a "coven" of accomplished women friends. Dante, the Ansonia doorman with an Italian accent, and Ziggy, the coven's enterprising dog-walker, make regular, spirited appearances. The novel's Stoic-inspired heroine is convinced her dating days are behind her until, in tandem with the art heist, she unwittingly stumbles into a romance that upends her tidy life. It all starts with a suave, mysterious stranger she meets at the ballet.
Adora's superpower is her adherence to the maxim "the less you want, the happier you'll be," and until she meets Digby, she is perfectly content. The erotically charged attraction between Adora and the "expensively moisturized" Digby shatters her peace of mind even as their clever back-and-forth makes for dazzling dialogue. Meanwhile, the latest addition to the Lockwoods' statuary arrives in New York to great fanfare.
Adora shares a biographical detail with her creator, namely her former TV writing career in Los Angeles. Semple (Today Will Be Different; Where'd You Go, Bernadette?) dives into her protagonist's history, untangling the difficult truth behind her departure from California. Go Gentle's marvelously madcap storylines converge as the action shifts to Paris and Digby's true identity becomes devastatingly clear, setting into motion an unanticipated finale that will have Semple fans cheering heartily from the sidelines.
Semple is an acclaimed storyteller with a fondness for intellectually dazzling heroines of a certain age, and her fourth novel is her best yet. --Shahina Piyarali
Shelf Talker: This exhilarating novel by acclaimed storyteller Semple features a New York philosopher who finds herself at the center of both an international art heist and a romance with a mysterious stranger.