Like This, but Funnier

When the reader meets Caroline Neumann, the TV comedy writer at the center of Cantor’s hilarious and propulsive debut, her life is in shambles. Her career is going nowhere and her therapist husband, Harry, pressures her to have kids, which she resents while envying his consistent and meaningful work. One day, Harry tells Caroline about a dream shared with him by a patient, whom he calls the Teacher, about murdering her kindergarten students’ parents and burying them in the school garden. Previously, Harry effused to Caroline about the Teacher’s sweet and motherly qualities, causing her to obsess over this woman in her husband’s life who possesses the characteristics she lacks. Now, the Teacher’s homicidal dream triggers her writerly instincts. Not only does Caroline steal the dream for a TV show pitch, she begins following the Teacher and befriends her at a yoga class, claiming she’s new to town and looking to make friends. When the pitch sells, all hell breaks loose as Caroline struggles to keep her lies buried, and finally freezes her eggs out of guilt. Cantor, a writer on comedy shows such as Arrested Development and Inside Amy Schumer, sustains the laughs as Caroline contends with the consequences of one misstep after another. It’s comedic gold. Agent: Allison Hunter, Trellis Literary. (Apr.)