My guest this week is Maria Semple the author of one of my favourite books of all time, Where’d you go bernadette,. Once encountered, Bernadette Fox is never forgotten. I wasn’t alone, Bernadette was translated into 40 languages, sold over 200k copies in the UK alone, was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize and was made into a movie starring Cate Blanchett. Maria, who was previously a TV writer for Saturday Night Live and Arrested Development, amongst others, has written two other novels, and is now back with a fourth, Go Gentle. Already an Oprah Bookclub pick, it’s A story of midlife transformation, mothers, daughters, art theft, stoicism and Upper West side covens! Yes, you heard that right. Like all her books, Go Gentle is stuffed full of home truths and big ideas, and it’s riotously snortingly funny. I met Maria on a flying visit to the UK at her publisher’s office overlooking the thames to talk about midlife’s dirty little secret, the freedom she found post-divorce, the joy of not having to ask permission and doing a geographical. We also discussed why midlife is a time of metabolisation (is that a word?) How stoicism kept her sane when her coping mechanisms packed up and why her favourite company is other women. • If you're in the UK, you can see Maria in conversation at Blackwells Oxford on Tuesday 26th and Hay Festival on Weds 27th May. * You can buy all the books mentioned in this podcast at The Shift bookshop on Bookshop.org, including Go Gentle by Maria Semple as well as the book that inspired this podcast, The Shift: how I lost and found myself after 40 - and you can too, by Sam Baker. * If you enjoyed this episode and you fancy buying me a coffee, pop over to my page on buymeacoffee.com. • And if you'd like to support the work that goes into making this podcast and get a weekly newsletter plus loads more content including exclusive transcripts of the podcast, why not join The Shift community, come and have a look around at www.theshiftwithsambaker.substack.com • The Shift is created, hosted and produced by Sam Baker and edited by Juliette Nicholls at Pineapple Audio Productions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
