Tuesday, February 27, 2018

The Perfect Nanny by Leila Slimani

I heard a lot of good things about this book (and apparently it’s based on a true story) so I decided to borrow it and see what it’s about.

The Perfect Nanny starts when Paul and Myriam hire Louise to be their children’s nanny. Myriam has been unhappy as a mother, so Louise allows her to go back to work, which she enjoys. However, Louise becomes obsessed with carving out a space for herself in this family and starts to take more and more drastic steps.

The tension in this book was really high, which made it such an addictive read. Louise seems to be perfect at first, but there are warning signs, such as her (literally) ferocious love for the children. Then bit by bit, she starts to unravel, which raises the tension even higher because we know how this is going to end.

The writing was great too. You could totally feel how obsessed Louise is, although I still think My Cousin Rebecca’s portrayal of obsession is still better. While I totally got that Louise was getting obsessed, I didn’t feel the obsession the way I felt it when Du Maurier wrote her book. Apart from Louise, Myriam’s guilt about going back to work was also well-written, and I could empathise with her.

That said, the novel doesn’t actually show the climax. We see the immediate aftermath and the build up to it, but no climax. It actually feels like the novel was abruptly cut off, because there are a few more loose threads than I was expecting.

All in all, this was a very tightly written novel. If you’re into domestic thrillers, this will probably be right up your alley.

3 comments :

  1. Ohhh! I will definitively read it.

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  2. This sounds very promising, although I worry about it not having much of a climax. I really want to read My Cousin on of these days though. I have heard nothing about rave things about Du Maurier's work.

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