Dark side of strangers: How a return to house-sharing inspired Jo Dixon’s new thriller

Thought the days of random flatmates were behind you? Cost of living pressures are forcing older people back into house-sharing – and for Jo Dixon, the result was a horror story.

A few years ago, a friend of mine, Eloise, quit her well-paid corporate job to follow her passion. She moved interstate, enrolled in a course, and found a house to rent. But dropping out of a career job and becoming a full-time student also meant Eloise needed someone to share the costs. After twenty years of being perfectly happy on her own, she was going to have to again share her home with others – only this time she was closer to fifty than twenty-five.

What she discovered was that finding a flatmate has become easier. Gone are the two-line ads in the paper with their space-saving acronyms. These days the search is online and feels uncannily like trying to find a match on a dating site: photos, details, likes, dislikes and preferences. Eloise’s listing was direct and to the point, offering a sanctuary for grown-ups and laying down the most important house rule, Don’t Be a Dick. Within days she had prospective co-tenants calling in for inspections and chats, and she settled on two flatmates.

Dark side of the room … Jo Dixon dreamt up A Shadow At The Door after her friend dived back into house-sharing.

At this point my storytelling brain was coming up with all sorts of creepy scenarios. After all, when you choose a stranger to live with, you have so little to base your decision on. What if your gut instinct is wrong?

What did become clear was that Eloise wasn’t alone in being older and needing to share. There appeared to be no shortage of people who fell outside the parameters of what many would consider to be the typical share-house occupant. In fact, the anecdotal evidence from her experience is backed by recent numbers from Flatmates.com.au. Those aged 55 to 64 are the fastest-growing group in the last year, while the 45 to 54 age group has also increased. The lack of affordable rentals and the cost of living have both contributed to this growth. But not everyone is able to find the perfect living arrangement – a sizeable number of those who are forced into share living admit they have had to settle on an unsuitable place because of the very real fear of becoming homeless.

For Eloise the return to sharing was confronting. The loss of privacy, the need to share the kitchen and communal areas, having to accommodate the routines of others. But I was fascinated by her experience. This wasn’t the share-house living I knew from my twenties.

Our new Book Of The Month … A Shadow At The Door by Jo Dixon.

The furniture was better, the food was better (not a two-minute noodle to be seen), the level of respect was generally better. But some things hadn’t changed – disagreements over cleaning and chores, or people constantly having friends over and continuing late into the night.

I found Eloise’s commitment to following a dream and exploring a whole new direction in her life inspiring. But it was the challenges, dramas and sweet moments of connection she experienced over the next three-and-a-half years that was enthralling. Flat mates came and went during that time. The youngest was 23, the oldest 52. One or two didn’t work out and were encouraged to move on – the sort of conflict that she says was far easier to handle now than when she was younger. But mostly people were decent. Some even became lasting friends.

There was the free spirit who held a good job but liked to change locations frequently. The super-stylish woman with the perfectly curated wardrobe who was getting back on her feet after a heartbreaking divorce. The guy who worked nights and would often get into long, loud rants behind his closed door – likely fuelled by drugs. The teacher who was saving for a house deposit. There were others too who passed through, each with a different reason for choosing to share a house. My imagination revelled in the characters and situations and, of course, I began to twist this abundance of material into a darker story.

A new life and a string of grim events … Jo Dixon’s actress character Remi finds there is more to house-sharing than she expects.

From the questions of what if came my latest book. In A Shadow at the Door, Remi is an ex-actress who has spent three years renovating a dilapidated house in Hobart. It’s her absolute pride and joy – a home she has painstakingly created. When her ex-husband tries to force the sale of the property, she decides the quickest way to improve her financial position is to take in two tenants. Almost immediately a series of unsettling, seemingly unrelated events occur. It becomes obvious these are not accidents.

Someone is out to get Remi – to up-end her life. Has she brought trouble into her home, or is this coming from elsewhere? Could they all be in danger?

A Shadow At The Door by Jo Dixon is out now, published by HarperCollins. It is our new Book Of The Month which means you get 30 per cent off the RRP with the code SHADOW at Booktopia. T & Cs: Ends 31-Jan-2024. Only on ISBN 9781867250326. Not with any other offer.

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Originally published as Dark side of strangers: How a return to house-sharing inspired Jo Dixon’s new thriller