Vacuum in the Dark is the new novel by Jen Beagin, and is a sequel to her acclaimed Pretend I’m Dead published in 2018. The lead character is Mona, in her mid-twenties. Mona cleans people’s houses and that lets her see their lives and learn their secrets. This novel does not explicitly rely on its predecessor, and we learn about Mona’s past life as the story proceeds. It’s an episodic novel that doesn’t have a strong narrative arc. Mona is funny but she also has a troubled history, and she has an unconventional life. She is also unhappy, even suicidal, but she leads a frantic life, involving many different people. She has an artistic side, taking pictures of the houses she cleans. She gets into different sexual relationships, and has a lot of sex. There’s a lot of dialog and the unabridged audiobook performed by Jayme Mattler with a slightly conspiratorial tone, which is appealing.

So it’s a rather brutal and sexual novel, full of people struggling and hurting. Yet Mona also spends a lot of time talking in her head to NPR interviewer Terry Gross. Terry often serves as a reality check for Mona, and gives her advice occasionally. It allows us to see what Mona is thinking in her inner dialog in a way that is still conversational and allows for plenty of humor. The book ends precipitously, which suggests that there will be a follow up. While it is not a book that aims to reveal deep insights about modern life, it is memorable in being very different from the usual genre-constricted novels that fill the market.

© 2019 Christian Perring

Christian Perring teaches in NYC.