contemporary fiction
I was a big fan of Maria Semple's Where'd You Go Bernadette so I was
very exciting to read Go Gentle when I saw it was coming out. Make no
mistake, Go Gentle is nothing like Bernadette - which is not a bad thing
by any stretch. Sure, both are about incredibly bright, independent
women with precocious daughters, but that's about it.
Go Gentle is, at times, captivating. Adora Hazzard (what a wonderful
name!) is a stoic philosopher, living the life I imagine that every
philosopher dreams of — she has a fellowship at a museum and library in
NYC, where she researches and writes her books in the library and "provides moral
training" for the twin tween sons of the museum's wealthy benefactors.
She also has assembled her own "coven" of women, a Golden Girls-esque
group who are buying up the apartments in her building to share
expenses and grow old supporting one another, in what I believe is every
woman's not-so-secret dream. She's a hero!
Then of course, things take a turn for the weird. Suddenly, there is
intrigue, potential international espionage and the events of her past (which she has put behind her so thoroughly that most people around her
know little to nothing about them) come back and blow of up her life in
ways she couldn't imagine.
I really liked Adora, her daughter, Viv, and the members of her coven. I
could've read an entire book focused only on that aspect of her life.
Frankly, I found the intrigue and mystery parts of the book a bit
convoluted at times. The book is split into four sections and there is
one section that I felt was almost entirely unnecessary. If we never had
the section with her ex-husband, I think the book would have flowed
more smoothly and he wouldn't have been missed. I understood why it was
there, moving forward and all that, but I also felt like it slowed down
an otherwise fast-moving story.
Still, time with Adora Hazzard is time well spent. I loved her life
philosophies and enjoyed watching her try to share the teachings of stoicism with young people, because that always goes over
well, doesn't it? Still, it's fun to watch everything come together in
the end and I'll look forward to Semple's next adventure just as much!
Thanks to G.P. Putnam's Sons, NetGalley and Maria Semple for the advanced reader copy.
No comments:
Post a Comment