Chilling book

This book was recommended by another mum it was enthralling but scary at the same time . It could of been real
Very good book

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1 person found this helpful

Underlying menace

Both, beautifully written but filled with menace. Great insight into a deteriorating mind . Stunning imagery

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A Perfect Nanny or a Perfect Monster?

I’m not surprised that this novel has won major book prizes. It is an interesting and chilling story, expertly narrated and translated in a seamless way, so much so that it is possible to believe that the original text was written in English.

This is the story of a young Parisian couple, Paul and Myriam, their two young children and their seemingly perfect nanny, Louise. When Myriam returns to work as a lawyer, the couple cannot believe their luck when the nanny they hire through an agency transforms their lives and their chic Grand Boulevard apartment, making it easy for them to leave their children for long hours in her care. Louise makes herself indispensable to them, cooking for dinner parties, babysitting, being totally available to them. Nothing is too much trouble for Louise and the children adore her.

Gradually the couple begin to notice small things that bother them about Louise. Is she too good to be true, are they imagining things or should they be dismissing their ‘perfect’ nanny? As time goes on they conclude that they can no longer ignore their worries and suspicions but fate intervenes in the most terrible way.

This is a well written novel and I liked the structure of it. The characters of Paul and Myriam could have been better developed, I thought, and the plot was weakened by this lack. It was very difficult to understand how or why they ignored so many troubling signs about Louise and some of the author’s devices surrounding Louise’s behaviour were implausible. For instance, Louise relied many times on small children being complicit in lies and subterfuge, repeating stories they had been taught or hiding important information from their parents. In my experience it is nigh on impossible to ask a small child to keep a secret so these devices seemed a little ridiculous.

The ending was very sudden and disappointing and it spoiled a novel which I had been positive about until that point. There was no real closure either. The reader is left to draw their own conclusions, which I found very unsatisfying.

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4 people found this helpful

So many inaccuracies

This book has achieved high acclaim in France.
This work begins after the murder of the children then delves back into the lives of the nanny and the parents to see what led to the events.
This does not read as a translation so all praise to Sam Taylor for a wonderful job in this respect. Moreover the narrative by Finty Williams was superb.
This is seriously far from a thriller It is a well written social commentary of day to day events in the life of a family.
The first half of the book shows how Myriam and Paul are happy to use and abuse their nanny. While telling themselves they are being kind to her they patronise and demean her. Myriam and Paul’s characters are not developed and they move in and out of the story without the reader having much insight into them. This is the same for other characters in the book. I felt this was written by someone far removed from the story I never felt Louise was alive in the story.
It is difficult to see why the parents did not see some of Louise’s behaviours as concerning but then they are focused on their own lives their work and Louise keeps the home and children ordered so they accept it. An example of this is bite marks Myriam discovers on her young son which is explained away by Louise the nanny and the mother just accepts it.
Overall I just felt extremely frustrated by this book as follows.
The ending was just flat with no satisfaction at all.
There are elements of this book which could not happen in real life despite its basis on a similar real life case in the USA in 2012.
When the supposed killer is in a coma the state will arrest her but then procedures stop until and unless the accused recovers. No investigation witness interrogation, Judge, trial can occur as the person accused of murder is not there present to defend herself. Yet all this is presented to the reader as what happened in this case.
Secondly are there no data protection laws in France? How is it possible for authorities to write to the employer of the nanny disclosing her financial irregularities without her consent? Then when given that information Myriam who is a solicitor did not tell Louise that she does not have to legally accept her husband’s debt which is the reason for her debt in the first place?
Overall this was a well written and well translated distant look at day to day family life without any thriller gripping elements with glaring inconsistencies in legal practices of any government
Personally it just left me confused and perplexed. I could not recommend it and will return it to Audible.

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14 people found this helpful

Intellectual psychological story

Great listen. Well written and empathetically narrated book. It portrays a put upon nanny who is trusted to be in charge of two innocent children. So cleverly written in that you are always aware of the awful act that has been committed but but there is a compelling sense to listen on and understand why.

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2 people found this helpful

A very Dark story

I’d been recommended this book by a friend who has a wonderful eye for a good read. Unfortunately I didn’t get on so well with this one. Mostly because I found it incredibly depressing. I can’t quite put my finger on exactly why. It was very well written and well narrated I just always felt incredibly sad after listening to it.

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1 person found this helpful

Disappointing Abrupt Ending

Excellent storyline and narration. Very abrupt , disappointing finish. Who was Louise, why this behaviour?

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unsatisfying ending

Good story until the end. narrator kept dropping her voice, difficult to hear although my phone usually has excellent audio/sound.

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Quite good

Given this book had a fair amount of hype I was a bit disappointed by the reality. It’s quite good but certain not so special.

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1 person found this helpful

Superb!

So very intriguing. The narrator was a bit monotone with voicing characters, but still engaging.

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