crabbygirl reviewed The Perfect Nanny by Leila Slimani
Review of 'The Perfect Nanny' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
this slim novel is direct in description, but aloof in emotion. it opens with an Albert Camus hook: "The baby is dead." so we have the ending, and the author doesn't get too bogged down in endearing details about the children who will be dead by the end. yet, one cannot be melancholy to read ANY mundane details about them. knowing what is to come.
I can't say the whole thing held together well, but there were many sharp observations to the push & pull of motherhood, the unspoken racism/classism, the resentment and suspicion of dependency. it is obvious that the nanny is suffering from a mental illness in the end, but it's not truly explained how it started. and to mention, in one sentence after she is far gone, that she was in a hospital once is too little too late. wouldn't this information have surfaced earlier, even the …
this slim novel is direct in description, but aloof in emotion. it opens with an Albert Camus hook: "The baby is dead." so we have the ending, and the author doesn't get too bogged down in endearing details about the children who will be dead by the end. yet, one cannot be melancholy to read ANY mundane details about them. knowing what is to come.
I can't say the whole thing held together well, but there were many sharp observations to the push & pull of motherhood, the unspoken racism/classism, the resentment and suspicion of dependency. it is obvious that the nanny is suffering from a mental illness in the end, but it's not truly explained how it started. and to mention, in one sentence after she is far gone, that she was in a hospital once is too little too late. wouldn't this information have surfaced earlier, even the nanny's own recollections?