351. Maria Semple with Ken Jennings: An Existential Meet Cute

Have you ever reinvented yourself — even unintentionally? Bestselling author Maria Semple's latest novel, Go Gentle, tells the story of one woman's midlife transformation. Adora Hazzard, a Stoic philosopher and divorcée living in New York City, believes that she has it all figured out. She's a working mom of a teenage daughter, she's relishing her freedom, and she regularly meets with a group of like-minded women she refers to her "coven" — a group she assembled herself and is working to expand. Adora's carefully curated life is going as planned until a chance meeting with a handsome stranger. She begins subverting people's expectations — perhaps most of all her own. Soon, her normally orderly existence is upended by adventure and risk: black-market art deals, secret rendezvous, and international intrigue. If that isn't enough, secrets from her past return to visit her in the present. Go Gentle's narrative raises that age-old question: In the battle between the mind and the heart, which one will win? Maria Semple is the bestselling author of Today Will Be Different, Where'd You Go, Bernadette, and This One Is Mine. Her novels have been translated into forty languages. Before writing fiction, Maria wrote for TV. She lives in New York. Ken Jennings is still the Jeopardy! record-holder for his 74-game streak on the beloved quiz show back in 2004. In 2020, he was named Jeopardy!'s "Greatest of All Time" and began hosting the show following the death of longtime host Alex Trebek later that year. Ken is the author of 14 books, most recently The Complete Kennections. Buy the Book Go Gentle: A Novel Elliott Bay Book Company