Fine, I'm a Terrible Person

Seventy-three-year-old Aurora is broke, outrageous, and convinced life still owes her something. When she learns her late father’s widow has died, she heads to Los Angeles, certain an inheritance is finally within reach.

Her daughter Leyla has problems of her own. A tightly wound, image-conscious Marin mom, she suspects her husband is having an affair and impulsively follows him to L.A.—to a cannabis industry conference, no less—determined to catch him in the act.

What begins as two secret missions quickly spirals into one chaotic weekend of crossed wires, outrageous missteps, and long-buried resentments. As mother and daughter collide in spectacular fashion, they’re forced to confront not only money and marriage—but the complicated love between them.

Sharp, funny, and big-hearted, this mother-daughter caper proves it’s never too late to make a mess—or to make things right.

About the Author

Lisa F. Rosenberg holds degrees from U.C. Berkeley and Dominican University of California, where she earned her MFA in Creative Writing. She has worked as a gallerist for prominent San Francisco art dealers, including Crown Point Press and John Berggruen Gallery, and later as a museum guide and educator at SFMOMA and the Contemporary Jewish Museum. Her nonfiction writing has appeared in exhibition catalogs and arts publications, and her short fiction has been featured in Amaranth. Fine, I’m a Terrible Person is her debut novel, inspired in part by her Rhodeslis Sephardic heritage.

Editorial Reviews

“Shared cultural and familial trauma—and lousy men—loom large in this wry mother-daughter novel… Rosenberg’s novel has an effortless, dry sense of humor and quippy tone…a breezy, funny, and propulsive read.
Our Verdict: Get it.”—Kirkus Reviews

“With razor-sharp prose and a searing emotional core, the novel plunges us into the restless world of Leyla…What unfolds is a biting, laugh-out-loud examination of generational dysfunction, shifting cultural identities, and the absurdities of modern survival. The writing crackles with dark humor and honesty…Fans of Maria Semple, Meg Wolitzer, and Claire Messud will fall for what Rosenberg has captured, a picture of the maddening, tender, and deeply flawed bonds between mothers and daughters with an unflinching, hilarious eye.” —Lee Kravetz, award-winning author of The Last Confessions of Sylvia P.

“If you can’t laugh out at the complicated entanglements of the mother-daughter “trauma bond” you might cry…Lisa Rosenberg has written a novel that invites a full range of emotions as you journey from neurotically wealthy Marin County to a legal cannabis conference in Los Angeles … It’s a fast-paced ride with characters you may find frustrating and endearing in equal measure, like life itself…”—Marianne Rogoff PhD, author of Love is Blind in One Eye

“I highly recommend “Fine, I’m a Terrible Person” for its nuanced exploration of self-discovery, mental health, and personal growth. With a complex protagonist and an intricate narrative structure, the book provides profound insight into the human experience and encourages readers to confront their own perceptions of self-worth and identity.” —Jewish Book World

“What do you do with the toxic people in your life? Especially if the most toxic person is your mother? In her funny and heartbreaking novel, Fine, I’m a Terrible Person, Lisa Rosenberg pushes these questions to their boundaries. …Rosenberg’s fast-paced novel travels from Rodeo Drive to a Cannabis Business convention to LA’s tight-knit Ladino-speaking Rhodelis community, descendants of a Sephardic Jewish population from Rhodes that was decimated at the end of World War II. —Susan Breen, award-winning author of The Fiction Class and the Maggie Dove mystery series.