genre: psychological thriller
Myriam and Paul need help. When Myriam decides to go back to work, someone needs to be in charge of their two children and naturally, they decide on a Nanny. They go about it the best they can and they choose Louise. Louise who loves to play and is so affection with the children. Louise who keeps the house so tidy, who makes their meals, who makes herself more than just relevant, more like a part of the family. But from the beginning of this disturbing book, we know that Myriam and Paul's children have been killed. And from the beginning we are pretty sure that the nanny is to blame.
Okay, I did hate how this started. Don't really want to think about dead children, ever. However, I picked this up because it was nominated for and won all sorts of French awards so I figured it must be redeeming SOMEhow. And in some ways, it was. The writing (and translation) is very good. The story IS psychologically creepy and upsetting in the way these books are. The pace was good and it kept me interested even while I was sort of reading with dread. That beginning few pages, though, is the worst that it gets and the rest of it is more of a character-driven look at Louise and how she arrived at the point she is at in the beginning. Creepy stuff but the story is told in such a way that you can understand why Myriam and Paul get sucked in. What I appreciated most is the way this author seemed to truly understand what it is to stay home with children all day, to be a women attempting to have a career AND a mother, as well as the way you can feel about other people's children when you care for them. The author was spot on and those sections really hit home for me.
If you enjoy psychological thrillers, this is probably worth picking up. Literarily, it really was quite good.
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