Don't Sleep with the Dead
by Nghi Vo

Reviewed by Galen Strickland
Posted April 12, 2025

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I could have added comments about Don't Sleep with the Dead on the same page as Vo's debut novel from 2021, The Chosen and the Beautiful. Both are set within the world of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, which entered the public domain five months before Chosen was published. Vo's version was written in first-person from the perspective of Jordan Baker, who is completely different than in Fitzgerald's book, which was told by Nick Carraway. This novella is narrated by Nick, nearly twenty years after Gatsby's death. I have seen it identified as a stand-alone story, but I feel it would be best appreciated if you read the novel first, and I mean Chosen, not Gatsby. If you are not familiar with Fitzgerald's book you can find information on Wikipedia or other places, or watch one of the film adaptations. I decided to put this on its own page because the style and focus is different. If she ever writes more in this world I might reconsider and put them together on one page. The ending is ambiguous enough to suggest that might happen.

I wish I had time to re-read Chosen, especially because I do not remember something about Nick which is front and center here. It involves something he has in common with Jordan, which I was vague about in the earlier review, and would prefer to remain vague again. If it was revealed in Chosen I missed it, or if it came before we learned of Jordan's "gift," I did not understand it. There is magic in Vo's tale, veering toward horror at times. Nick is back in New York, after attempting to work in Hollywood. He eeks out a living with royalties from his books, along with a regular column in the Herald Tribune. The story starts on the night following Christmas 1939, ending in the early hours of New Year's Day. Jordan is in only two scenes, both via phone calls. She is in Paris, but about to leave since Germany is advancing, bombing the city day and night. Nick is mostly on his own, except for occasional encounters with men in Prospect Park. One night the park is raided by police, Nick and scores of others corralled into a blind alley. Just as the nightsticks start breaking bones Nick is able to get away, helped by someone he is convinced is the ghost of Jay Gatsby. His face is not Jay's, but Nick is sure it is his voice. Whoever it is, they disappear quickly, and the rest of the book has Nick searching for him, asking for help from demonic spirits.

Although I recommend the story, which I can say about everything else I've read by Nghi Vo, I don't want to say much more. Nick's life somewhat mirrored that of Jay Gatsby (real name James Gatz), while at the same time it is distinctly different. That is where the magic came in. The opening lines here are about Nick's memories of WW1, mixed with what was going on in Europe in late '39, along with his plight as a bisexual (but mostly gay) man in New York. Nick had been haunted for many years by his longing for Gatsby, and now that there is a possibility of getting him back, he knows he must try. I am not convinced the demon he finally meets in the end is Gatsby, but Nick appears to believe so. Another thing I am uncertain of is whose hand lands on his shoulder as he sat writing the story, after Gatsby(?) had left the room. Nick had just given him his heart. Did Jay return for something else? It is apparent Nghi Vo is very familiar with Fitzgerald's book, and had probably been thinking of writing in his world for many years before being able to do so. The prose style here closely mimics Fitzgerald's Nick Carraway. Along with Jordan's perspective in Chosen, Nghi Vo's work is superior to Fitzgerald's. Both are highly recommended.

 

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