Book Chatter

Vacuum in the Dark
By Jen Beagin
Scribner, January 2020, 240pp.

The Short of It:

This book continually snapped in my face to get my attention. It was unhinged and I kind of loved that about it.

The Rest of It:

Mona cleans houses for a living and she’s seen some things. People who defecate and leave little presents all over their homes for her to find. Soiled sheets (use your imagination). A person can tell a lot about you by the sheets you leave behind. Although she prefers to do her work in an empty house, sometimes her clients show interest or provide additional information to an otherwise confusing personal item.

She knows the bedroom habits of her clients. What’s happening, and what’s not. Her quiet, not adverse reaction to chaos draws people in. Enough so, that clients cross line entering her personal space and become something more. Exactly what, she’s not sure.

Everything has happened to Mona. She’s been raped, more than once but didn’t want to make a big deal of it. She’s been used as a muse for art, exposing her naked body for others to gaze upon and define. She’s had relations with married men and well out in the open. Open relationships should be less confusing. Right?

Although Mona seems to have done it all and doesn’t appear to be the worse for it, she’s suffering from a lack of self-worth and a deep yearning for home, whatever that is. Enter Claire, Mona’s mother who shacked up with some weirdo but has suddenly given up drugs and wants Mona to come for a visit.

Everyone in this novel is flawed beyond belief. They do despicable things and yet, you can’t hate them because of the honest way they just lay it all out. It’s like walking through a door and saying this is who I am, deal with it. Mona and many of these character experience life changing scenarios. Ones that initially confuse but eventually provide clarity.

I’ve been vague about the plot because you have to experience Vacuum in the Dark for yourself. It caught me completely off guard but I loved Beagin’s last book Big Swiss so I dived in.

This was a follow-up to another book but it felt like a standalone.

Read it.

Source: Borrowed
Disclosure: This post contains Bookshop.org affiliate links.

Yesteryear
By Caro Claire Burke
Knopf, April 2026, 400pp.

The Short of It:

Innocently lures you in and then drops some very big ideas.

The Rest of It:

Natalie has created a perfect life for herself. She lives in a rustic farmhouse with her ever-growing family and stands up on Christian values, a TRADitional marriage, and prides herself on living simply. Her followers agree. She’s the real deal.

Does it matter that she doesn’t do it all on her own as her social media platforms suggest? Is it really so wrong to have producers and content managers and professional photogs at the ready to capture every splendid, clickable moment on the farm?

Something happens in Natalie’s world to make her question everything. She wakes up one day and doesn’t recognize her own children and her husband has grown…hostile. Spending her days doing laundry that only repeats its dirt cycle over and over again makes her want to lose her mind.

Who are these people? Always trying to guide her and tell her what to do. Who is this man who claims to be her husband? And goodness, she never has a moment to come to her senses because she’s either getting pregnant or having a baby. All those babies along with kids she doesn’t recognize.

Let me tell you how this book make me feel.

Enraged. Actual RAGE.

Besides the actual drama of it all, there is a lot to peel back here and I found myself getting quite worked up.

The world we live in is often created and curated for clicks. What we see is intentionally misleading and opens the door for comparison where we are often left wanting.
The conservative push to expand families without support for said families doesn’t make sense. Increasing the population when there are school children without lunch? Makes no sense whatsoever.
What makes a good marriage? Should give and take not be a part of it? Women are being encouraged to return to TRAD wife lifestyles. Stay at home. Have babies. Take care of your husband. But what do you do when your husband is as useless as Caleb is? Well, Natalie is not only expected to stand by him but she is expected to support him to boost his ego.
I could not help but question the role of children. Yes, living on a prairie long ago probably warranted a lot of children because work on a farm is never done but are they supposed to do the work of adults? Do they have a voice when they see it all going sideways? No.

I understand that Yesteryear has gotten a lot of attention. Anne Hathaway has already optioned it for a movie that she will star in. And it’s been said, that the book took its inspiration from a well known influencer who is currently battling a raw milk fiasco. All this aside, it definitely makes you feel things. It’s a book that needs to be discussed.

Source: Borrowed
Disclosure: This post contains Bookshop.org affiliate links.

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