She invited him in. Now she can’t get him out.
Donna is so ready to start her new life. She’s had enough of her dead-end job in Chicago, her unhappy family, and her lack of a boyfriend. Then her grandmother leaves her this perfect turquoise-blue bungalow in the California hills. And now, she’s found the perfect roommate to help pay the bills. Her perfect roommate is about to become her worst nightmare.
“Fleischer doesn’t shy away from writing about female pleasure, as well as the darker side of desire. Donna encompasses the edgy side of Fleischer, the part that refuses to acquiesce.”
-Rachel Robbins, Chicago Review of Books
"If Caroline Kepnes, Joan Didion, and Ottessa Moshfegh's books had a hilarious, nail-bitingly tense, uncomfortably clear-sighted baby, the result would be Caroline Macon Fleischer's addicting debut. The Roommate is like nothing I've read before. I could not put it down."
-Julia Fine, Author of The Upstairs House
"Relentlessly tense and unsettling, The Roommate is a novel as dark as it is addictive. It will stay with you long after you finish—and will make you think twice about welcoming strangers into your home."
-Megan Collins, Author of The Family Plot
"Dark, propulsive, and thrillingly unpredictable, The Roommate is a moody mind-bender of Southern California noir. Echoing James Ellroy and Michael Connelly, Fleischer skillfully brings to life a cast of characters rife with damaged psyches, revenge cravings, and violent tendencies, while never losing sight of their fundamental desire for human connection."
-Cassidy Lucas, Author of Santa Monica
Corey is a millenial playwright newly armed with an arts degree from a selective Dallas university. Her mentor, the famous Professor Maxine Due, lords a golden-ticket opportunity over here, one that would get Corey get the heck out of Dallas making magical theatre in Chicago. But Maxine won't give Corey the ticket.
This feminine theatre fever dream is forthcoming in 2025 via CLASH Books.
Photo by Cory Weaver; premiere of EURIDYCE by Sarah Ruhl at the LA Opera.
selected stories and essays