Service by Lauren Mooney review – a very modern ghost story

Lauren Mooney’s debut novel, Service, is a masterful exploration of the modern workplace, where labor and exploitation are delightfully blurred. On its surface, Service appears to be a haunted-house tale, replete with atmospheric tension and eerie undertones. However, scratch beneath the surface, and you’ll find a scathing critique of contemporary precarity that resonates far beyond the realm of horror fiction.

The novel’s protagonist, Danielle, is a Personal Assistant at Hodgepodge, a trendy arts charity. Her days are filled with typing emails, making tea, and running errands for her boss Jeannie. The setup is familiar – and disturbingly relatable – to anyone who has worked in the service industry. Mooney’s depiction of Danielle’s precarious existence is both poignant and infuriating, as she navigates a world where her labor is constantly undervalued and her autonomy is eroded.

The horror of Service lies not in its ghostly apparitions or creepy atmosphere but in its uncanny ability to capture the banality of modern work. Mooney’s portrayal of Hodgepodge is a searing indictment of the gig economy, where workers are reduced to interchangeable cogs and their labor is exploited for the benefit of their employers. The charity’s strapline – “for ideas” – illustrates this phenomenon perfectly, as Danielle’s creativity and skills are channeled into making her boss’s life easier rather than pursuing her own passions or interests.

One of the most striking aspects of Service is its use of the haunted-house trope to explore the psychological effects of precarity on workers. Danielle’s experiences – from being forced to work long hours without pay to being subjected to Jeannie’s sadistic games – are both deeply unsettling and painfully familiar. Mooney’s depiction of how workers internalize their exploitation, becoming complicit in their own oppression, is a powerful commentary on the psychological toll of modern work.

As we navigate the precarious world of modern employment, Service serves as a potent reminder that our labor has value and should be respected. By highlighting the ways in which workers are exploited and undervalued, Mooney’s novel offers a scathing critique of the systems that perpetuate these injustices. It’s a timely warning that we ignore at our own peril – and one that will resonate long after the final page is turned.

The success of Service lies not just in its ability to scare but in its ability to provoke. Mooney’s novel is a call for workers everywhere to demand better from their employers, to fight against exploitation and precarity that threatens to consume us all. As we continue to navigate this treacherous landscape, Service serves as a reminder of the importance of solidarity, collective action, and fair compensation for our labor.

The darkness at the heart of Service is not just a product of its ghostly apparitions – but a reflection of the very real terrors that haunt us in our daily lives. As we turn the final page, we’re left with a haunting sense of recognition, knowing that Danielle’s story could be any one of ours. The question remains: what will we do about it?