Booksology A joyful, madcap novel, Maria Semple’s “Go Gentle” puts 50-something women in New York City at center stage — with philosophy, art, parenting, dark secrets, and international intrigue jostling restlessly in the wings. These ladies are far more lively and youthful than Truman Capote’s swans; it’s a new world.
Semple broke through with her wickedly funny, best-selling novel “Where’d You Go, Bernadette,” in 2012, which was made into a 2019 film starring Cate Blanchett.
Our heroine this time is Adora Hazzard, who can be just as hectic as her name implies. She’s a divorced mother who lives in New York’s Upper West Side; despite her staid job as a philosopher, she moves at a whirlwind pace. She’s known to grab near-strangers by the arm and start riffing about her latest obsession, or invite them to join her coven.
Not a witches’ coven (this isn’t that kind of book); it’s more like a crone co-op.
Much of the first part of the novel is devoted to the coven, less the people than the logistics, and it sounds like a genuinely good idea. I, too, have held a head of celery and thought, how am I going to use all this? The coven splits not just groceries but cleaning and dogwalking expenses and memberships to the ballet. They don’t spend all their time together; they’re independent. If, as women of a certain age who are single, they’re generally underappreciated, they can count on each other for everything from car sharing to fashion advice.
Adora’s job as a philosopher is twofold: She tutors wealthy twin boys and also serves as writer in residence at the Manhattan museum founded by their ancestor. Her field is stoicism, which she boils into bite-sized lessons for the teens (and this reader), making it sound logical, attractive, and decent.
In another novel, these rich youngsters would be insufferable, but Adora truly enjoys them. Seen close up, they and their father are marvelous. It’s their mother that’s the problem. Upon meeting her, Adora remembers, “At first, I thought she was on her way to a photo-shoot or awards luncheon. I later learned we simply had vastly different concepts of ‘daytime casual.’” There is a delightful spark in the way all the characters come alive in a Maria Semple novel. The doorman, Adora’s co-workers, her teen daughter — everyone has a quirky, individual appeal. Add in a handsome stranger Adora meets at the ballet and things really start to cook.
And … hold that thought. The center of the book flashes back to Adora’s time as a budding comedy writer in Hollywood. Long ago, Semple was a young comedy writer in Hollywood. As you might expect, there are jokes about traffic, a crappy apartment, and endless meetings. As you might not expect, given her later dedication to sisterhood, Adora sides with the boys in the writing room after she lands a choice gig.
It’s at a fictional television show shot and broadcast from LA that resembles “Saturday Night Live.” That architecture gives readers a way to quickly grasp how the writers might work together and compete with each other. Adora thinks she’s found her place in the boys’ club until she has a terrible experience. It is almost too much to bear.
Returning to Adora’s colorful present, the pieces begin to fit together. To deal with trauma, some people turn to therapy, some to meditation — others turn to Zeno of Citium.
Adora’s life has been full yet controlled, but not for long. Her workplace is on edge because a secret cadre of art protesters is threatening museums internationally — think the Van Gogh paint-throwers, but with bombs. Someone goes missing. Her hot new boyfriend is not what he seemed to be. Authorities are summoned. Messages on fine stationery are secretly passed. It’s got all the trappings of a spy novel with a witty scattered midlife lady at its center.
If it wasn’t clear before, this all happens in a very financially secure cohort. Adora lives in the landmark Ansonia building in Manhattan, and her coven is made up of women who buy other apartments there as they become available. If they choose to split celery, it’s about the waste, not the cost. That a philosophy tutor feels no want in Manhattan may be unrealistic, but it fits in this whirling confection.
The tension escalates. Why is that European elite art broker so scary? How long can Adora outrun her paramour? Does it help if they take a trip to Paris? What exactly is in that box? It’s as if each plot twist were a jeweled horse being added to an overcrowded calliope. Eventually, some start to rattle and careen away.
Some readers may see the book as an awkward triad. The coven — truly, a much funner word than co-op — fades in importance. The past trauma is beautifully written about and moving, but sort of stands apart. And the end is manic fireworks.
I think, though, that it takes Semple’s contradictions to get a witty frothy Stoic art heist comedy romance. For older ladies. In a coven.
Carolyn Kellogg, formerly books editor of the Los Angeles Times, is a writer and editor.
Go Gentle: A Novel
By Maria Semple
G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 365 pages, $30
