** SOON TO BE A MAJOR HBO SERIES STARRING JODIE COMER ** 'Made me laugh and think too much (the right amount?) about sex and death and honesty.' MONICA HEISEY 'Utterly addictive. . . I laughed so hard it ached.' GILLIAN ANDERSON 'Juicy, salacious and compelling. Trauma shouldn't be this fun.' SARA PASCOE Greta liked knowing people's secrets. That wasn't a problem. Until she met Big Swiss. Big Swiss. That's Greta's nickname for her - she is tall, and she is from Switzerland. Greta can see her now: dressed top to toe in white, that adorable gap between her two front teeth, her penetrating blue eyes. She's a head-turner: including the heads of infants and dogs. Well that's how Greta imagines seeing her; they haven't actually ever met in person. Nor has Greta actually ever been to Switzerland. Greta and Big Swiss are not in the same room, or even the same building. Greta is miles away, sitting at a desk in her own house, wearing only headphones, fingerless gloves, a kimono, and legwarmers, transcribing this disembodied voice. What Greta doesn't know is that she's about to bump into Big Swiss in the local dog park. A new - and not entirely honest - relationship is going to be born. A relationship that will transform both of their lives. . . Readers are obsessed with Big Swiss: 'This thing is a riot. I laughed out loud regularly. I've never read anything quite like it.' 'This book is f u n n y' 'The premise is bizarre but brilliant! I am ready to move to Hudson, NY to meet these folks!' ' I haven't read a book this engrossing for a long time.' 'The blend of real and wit made for a wonderfully sublime experience.'

Big Swiss. That's Greta's nickname for her - she is tall, and she is from Switzerland. Greta can see her now: dressed top to toe in white, that adorable gap between her two front teeth, her penetrating blue eyes. She's a head-turner: including the heads of infants and dogs. Well that's how Greta imagines seeing her; they haven't actually ever met in person. Nor has Greta actually ever been to Switzerland. Greta and Big Swiss are not in the same room, or even the same building. Greta is miles away, sitting at a desk in her own house, wearing only headphones, fingerless gloves, a kimono, and legwarmers, transcribing this disembodied voice. What Greta doesn't know is that she's about to bump into Big Swiss in the local dog park. A new - and not entirely honest - relationship is going to be born. A relationship that will transform both of their lives. . .

Mona is twenty-three, emotionally adrift and cleaning houses to get by.

While handing out clean needles to drug addicts, she falls for a man she calls Mr Disgusting, who proceeds to break her heart in unimaginable ways.

In search of healing, she decamps to New Mexico for a fresh start, but always lurking just beneath the surface are the ghosts of her past, and the crushing legacy of a chaotic, destructive childhood. It seems running further away from her problems could just leave more inventive ways for them to find her.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOLLINGER EVERYMAN WODEHOUSE PRIZE FOR COMIC FICTION

From the Whiting Award-winning author of Pretend I'm Dead comes a new hilarious, edgy, and brilliant one-of-a kind novel, for fans of Sally Rooney and Joshua Ferris

Mona is twenty-six, working as a cleaner and looking for a fresh start in Taos, New Mexico. She moved there mostly to escape from a bad break-up with a junkie named Mr. Disgusting (don't ask). But her fresh start hasn't gone as smoothly as she expected, not least because she's found herself another bad boyfriend. This one she calls Dark, and it's complicated: he happens to be married to one of Mona's clients.

But Mona soon realises that neither her relationships nor her past traumas can be easily left behind. In an attempt to get over her heartbreak she winds up on an eccentric, moving, hilarious journey that takes her back to her own beginnings.

A constantly surprising, laugh-out-loud funny novel about an utterly original, quirky and unforgettable heroine, Vacuum in the Dark is an astonishing read from one of the freshest voices in fiction today.