He's Gotta Go

Published by Rare Bird Books
Distributed by Simon & Schuster

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About the Book

He's Gotta Go is a wickedly intelligent domestic thriller about marriage, money, and the fantasies we nurture just to survive another school pickup line.

Nina Simmons is drowning-financially, emotionally, existentially. Trapped in a crumbling marriage to a passive husband, raising two struggling daughters, and caring for a deteriorating mother-in-law in the suffocating perfection of Hidden Hills, Nina's life has become an endless loop of sacrifice, resentment, and quiet despair. As the bills pile up and the illusion of security evaporates, a single thought begins to steady her nerves and sharpen her focus: He's gotta go.

What begins as a private mantra evolves into something far more dangerous. Nina is smart, observant, and meticulous-and she has learned a great deal from true-crime documentaries about how people get caught. If she's going to do this, she intends to do it perfectly.

But Nina isn't the only woman harboring secrets. As the novel unfolds through the intersecting lives of Nina, a glamorous new neighbor with a flawless façade, a private investigator on the verge of escape from corporate purgatory, and an artist whose self-destructive appetites are catching up with her, He's Gotta Go becomes a taut, multi-voiced examination of power, desire, and the quiet violence embedded in modern domestic life.

Darkly comic, sharply observed, and unsettlingly plausible, He's Gotta Go skewers wealth, marriage, motherhood, and the myths women are told about endurance and gratitude. Marilee Albert delivers a fearless, satirical thriller that asks an uncomfortable question: when survival itself feels criminal, how far would you go to reclaim your life?

About the Author

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Marilee Albert studied philosophy at Yale before moving to Europe to work in the film business. These days, between TV and movie scripts, Marilee is a busy mother to two teen boys and a spirited Boston Terrier, and has recently started a nonprofit, OneVillageGreen, which promotes mental health and wellness in American kids and communities. Her favorite job in the film business will always be her first: as her favorite director’s philosophy tutor. The Tutor is her first novel.

Product Details

  • Publisher: Rare Bird Books (November 17, 2026)
  • Length: 280 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781644285817

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Raves and Reviews

"A perfect example of why every woman should start riffing on Heidegger in her stilettos. It cannot fail to enthrall even the most indomitable of men. A must read!"

Lauren Frances, bestselling author of Dating Mating and Manhandling: The Ornithological Guide to Men on The Tutor

"The Tutor is an astonishing first novel. Marilee Albert puts us in the shoes of a sexually awakening 21 year-old Yale philosophy major and ferries us from New Haven to Rome, meeting colorful characters along the way. So many trysts and turns, dollops Kant and Heidegger, we even get a peek behind the scenes of an iconic Hollywood mob movie shoot where our heroine tutors a famous director and learns even more in the process. Super smart, super sexy—a must read!”

Dottie Dartland Zicklin, Executive Producer, Younger on The Tutor

"If you want to learn what really goes on behind the scenes of a glamorous star-studded Hollywood classic, shot in Rome by a world famous auteur, read Marilee Albert’s terrific The Tutor. It’s an education in itself on how showbiz works, and you will be very, very surprised.”

William Stadiem, author of Marilyn Monroe Confidential, Mr. S, and Jet Set on The Tutor

"Marilee Albert’s roman a clef, The Tutor, is a charmingly lusty, hilariously funny, page-turner. This first-time novelist is clearly gifted. I can’t wait for more."

 

Jamie Rose, actress, author of Shut Up and Dance! on The Tutor

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