The Nanny

A Novel

By: Gilly Macmillan

Narrated by: Clare Corbett, Patience Tomlinson, Ben Eliot

“Dark, twisty and full of characters you’ll love to hate, The Nanny is the perfect read for a chilly winter’s night.” (Ruth Ware, New York Times best-selling author)

“The Nanny kept me in white-knuckled suspense until the very last page. Gilly Macmillan’s breakout thriller is a dark and twisted version of Downton Abbey gone very, very wrong.” (Tess Gerritsen, New York Times best-selling author)

The New York Times best-selling author of What She Knew conjures a dark and unpredictable tale of family secrets that explores the lengths people will go to hurt one another.

When her beloved nanny, Hannah, left without a trace in the summer of 1988, seven-year-old Jocelyn Holt was devastated. Haunted by the loss, Jo grew up bitter and distant, and eventually left her parents and Lake Hall, their faded aristocratic home, behind.

Thirty years later, Jo returns to the house and is forced to confront her troubled relationship with her mother. But when human remains are accidentally uncovered in a lake on the estate, Jo begins to question everything she thought she knew.

Then an unexpected visitor knocks on the door and Jo’s world is destroyed again. Desperate to piece together the gaping holes in her memory, Jo must uncover who her nanny really was, why she left, and if she can trust her own mother....

In this compulsively listenable tale of secrets, lies, and deception, Gilly Macmillan explores the darkest impulses and desires of the human heart. Diabolically clever, The Nanny reminds us that sometimes the truth hurts so much you’d rather hear the lie.

©2019 Gilly Macmillan (P)2019 HarperAudio

Great Story But Hated The Daughter

I loved the book once I got into it but I have to say that Jo is so unlikable I could not have any sympathy for her at all and kind of wanted the nanny to kill her off so Ruby could be happy with her Grandmother

Oh Yeah!

I love mysteries and thrillers and this one ranked right up there with the best ones. I read the couple of negative reviews and started not to buy it. But then I read the good reviews and figured my odds were 50/50 so why not. So glad I did. I thoroughly enjoyed the book.

Meh

Would you recommend this book?
Probably not, but I wouldn't necessarily discourage it, either. Its pacing was good, the characters were decent, the story was rooted in a plausible situation, and there's a bit of darkness to it. If that's your beat, all the power to you.

What did you like about the book?
There were several points of view that offered interesting insights into the characters. The mother was probably my favorite to see unfold. The detective POV seemed unnecessary though.
The gradndaughter made a good foil for their relationship and, as her relationships changed, it added to the believability of some aspects.
It was dark enough, I guess. And by the end you hated all the right people for all the right reasons, I think. There was some good villain background building as well, though not enough to make it compelling.

What didn't you like about the book?
There was nothing glaringly wrong with it. It just didn't have anything spectacularly right with it, either.
Although when Jo references certain American things, they're referenced in a very English way. Eventhough Ruby never moved to England prior and Jo was assumed to be a semi-adjusted American.
The ending wasn't terrible, it wrapped up nearly. But it didn't feel satisfying or whole. There are also some major character inconsistencies that pop up confusingly at the end that didn't make sense to me.
Unfortunately, Jo and Ruby were my least favorite characters so I had little sympathy (or empathy) for them and cared pretty little about whatever happened to them.

How were the narrators?
The narrators were good, not spectacular, but they melted into the background well.
However, I always find it odd when you have multiple narrators and each narrator narrates the voices of the characters that already have a narrator of their own. IE; Joe narrates both sides of the conversation with her mom, her mom narrates the convos with the nanny, and the nanny narrates convos with both other characters eventhough they have their own narrators.
Makes it a weird listen when you know their voice of each character and each character attempts to impersonate the others.
I assume this is probably not a consideration when writing it, but listening makes it odd.

Oh but the end!

Loved it until the very end. I felt like I was cut off and the writer was in a rush to finish the story and move on to the next thing. Left me feeling hanging. Overall worth the listen, just be prepared to be pushed out at the very end like a guest who stayed past 9pm at a dinner party intended to last until 10pm.

I liked it but I didn’t LOVE it

This book kept my attention, but the front half of the book jumped around a bunch and the back half ended so abruptly. Anyone else not understand the ending? I feel like I need to re listen to it. Worth listening if you like mysteries though. It’s still a fun twist novel.

lots of twists.

loved it. really easy to listen to. really loved the ending. I definitely recommend this one.

Struggled to Stick with It

Maybe it's because I'm a guy. I bought this book because it sounded remotely interesting - even if skewed toward the female listener - and it was on sale. I struggled to stick with it on numerous occasions. That's off for me - I usually "get into" and remain engaged by the books that I buy.

This one did have some interesting twists, however - things that had happened in the past or happen int he present - that I didn't expect. I'm glad I stuck with it till the end. But if I hadn't, it wouldn't have been the end of the world.

I think that's a sex thing. I like Margolin, Baldacci, and Grisham. And Erik Larson and Caleb Carr. I'm not excited by more feminine books. So take my tepid review with a grain of salt if you enjoy books that explore the feminine psyche.

Highly Recommend

I really enjoyed listening to this book. I have a love for murder mysteries that keep you guessing, and this book did the trick! One moment I thought I had figured it out, the next minute I was confused and rethinking my logic. I liked the story being told from different view points which I normally try to avoid. This aspect made me see different perspectives and made the ending even more surprising. I would definitely recommend this audio book to those who loves a good murder mystery that keeps you on your toes!

Fun in Domesticity

Thought this was a very fun story even though more than a little gruesome in the end

Pleasant surprise

I was new to this author and didn’t know much about the book but thought I’d give it a try. It was very good. Gripping from the start. The narrators were excellent. I’ll definitely read another Gilly MacMillan book.