November: Go Gentle by Maria Semple

Hi everyone.

I don't usually take the liberty of choosing a book for us, but it's near the end of the year and things get busy. I'm posting a book for November; we will skip a book in December and I'll post a pre-Christmas get together.

I chose Go Gentle by Maria Semple. I loved Where'd You Go Bernadette and I love that the main character, Bernadette, is also mentioned in this novel.

This was a quick and very enjoyable read. It's part memoir, part philosophy and part international intrigue. We should be able to discuss relationships between mothers and daughters, the place of women in society (especially after a certain age), coming to terms with past secrets, how to navigate life after divorce, taking chances, living authentic lives, and the role women can play in one another's lives.

It also lends itself to a nice, thematically related outing.

Adora Hazzard is a divorced middle-aged mother and practicing Stoic philosopher living on New York's Upper West Side with her teenage daughter. She lives by the motto Amor Fati (love fate) and the belief that true happiness comes from desiring only what you already have.

Her life is thrown into chaos when she meets a handsome stranger at a ballet. Her new romance drags her into a wide ride involving black market art deals, international intrigue and long-buried secrets from her past.