The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Brazier, Eliza. Good Rich People. Berkely, 2022.

Eliza Brazier’s novel, Good Rich People, follows the stories of Lyla and Demi as they attempt to survive and outsmart the elite social scene in Los Angeles, California. The novel is told from the first-person point of view of both characters. Lyla is a wealthy socialite who fears her husband, Graham, will divorce her if she does not participate in the game he and his mother, Margo, orchestrate to destroy the lives of their tenants. Demi is a homeless woman who assumes the identity of an up and coming entrepreneur after the woman dies in the Herschel’s guesthouse.

Lyla is reluctant to participate in the game at the beginning of the novel but ultimately decides that she can only maintain her elite social status if she concedes to harm the new tenant, Demi. She attempts to have Demi arrested for trespassing but her plan is foiled when the police arrest her instead. Graham and Margo are displeased with Lyla’s inability to concoct an effective plan against Demi. Lyla is tired of their pestering and decides she can win the game by murdering Demi. She plots to shoot the tenant with real ammunition during Graham’s birthday party.

Meanwhile, Demi adopts her new identity as a wealthy woman. She burns the body of the real Demi and sinks the bag of her hands, feet, and teeth into the reservoir to destroy any evidence. Michael, her friend from the streets, starts living in the guesthouse with her. He squats in the living room and smokes heroin. Demi is frustrated with his presence but focuses her attention on seducing Graham. She is enthralled with the landlord’s handsome features and aloof persona. When Demi attends his pre-birthday party, Graham reveals that he discovered her bag of body parts. Demi discovers that he is erotically charged by her penchant for violence.

At Graham’s birthday party, Lyla explains the rules of the Simunition game. She provides the guests with real guns loaded with gold dust and instructs them to shoot one another in an opulent version of paintball. Instead of participating in the game, Lyla hides in a hidden corridor and loads her gun with real ammunition. She tracks Demi’s movements with a GPS device and waits for her opportunity to kill the other woman and vicariously gain her husband’s respect. Before she can find Demi, Lyla is shot with gold dust and forced to leave the game. Meanwhile, Graham tells Demi that if she wins the game he will give her anything she wants but if she loses he will turn the bag of body parts over to the police. Demi, terrified and resolute on winning the game, shoots anyone within sight. When she runs out of Simunition she sneaks into the cocktail party where “dead” guests are drinking and steals Lyla’s gun. Before Lyla can get the weapon back, Demi, unaware that the gun is loaded, shoots Michael.

Graham is delighted when Demi shoots him with gold dust while standing over Michael’s dead body. He calls the police to have Lyla arrested and she is convicted of murder. Several months later, Demi lives in the glass house as Graham’s partner. She is disgusted by the sadistic games he plays with poor people and poisons him. When Lyla returns from prison, she is delighted to be rid of Graham and welcome a new tenant into the guesthouse.