Lauren Mooney's debut novel Service is a sharply observed ghost story that meticulously eviscerates the class system, blending supernatural chills with a stark portrayal of modern precarity. The book follows Danielle, a PA at a dilettante arts charity called Hodgepodge, who after a breakup finds herself homeless and staying at her boss Jeannie's ancestral home, Westerley.
A Haunted House with Modern Resonance
Westerley evokes classic haunted houses like Shirley Jackson's Hill House or Susan Hill's Eel Marsh House, with dust-sheeted rooms and locked doors. Danielle experiences unsettling phenomena: a fresh bowl of peaches appearing, a face at the window, and waking in a different time. She hears hobnailed boots on the stairs and reaches for a calico apron that doesn't exist.
Mooney grounds the ghost story in contemporary issues: the housing crisis, precarious arts careers without family support, broken phones, and bad wifi. The novel makes clear how timeless loneliness, poverty, and the struggle to retain self-worth remain, as Danielle moves from the master bedroom to the servants' quarters when Jeannie and her son Edward arrive.
Class Dynamics and Timeslip
Edward, attempting a seduction with assault-adjacent undertones, crudely compares their roles to Downton Abbey and Jeeves and Wooster. "It's a joke, Jesus. You work for my mum, so you're the staff? I was joking," he says. Danielle, alone with him, has no idea how to escape.
The hauntings are genuinely spooky, but equally chilling is the real-world parallel: how many Edwards have carried out such seductions with impunity? How many women have suffered worse under threat of homelessness? Mooney's meticulous evisceration of the class system stands on its own, driving home how little has changed in over 100 years.
A Debut That Speaks to Our Times
While the book can feel heavy-handed in places, Mooney's writing and the charge of timeless inequality propel the narrative. Service is published by Manilla (£16.99) and is a debut that speaks directly to contemporary anxieties about class, work, and survival.
