The Perfect Nanny

A Novel

By: Leila Slimani, Sam Taylor - translator

Narrated by: Finty Williams

*Soon to be an HBO series starring Nicole Kidman and Maya Erskine*

She has the keys to their apartment. She knows everything. She has embedded herself so deeply in their lives that it now seems impossible to remove her.

One of the 10 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR of The New York Times Book Review, by the author of Adèle, Sex and Lies, In the Country of Others, and Watch Us Dance

“A great novel . . . Incredibly engaging and disturbing . . . Slimani has us in her thrall.” —Roxane Gay, New York Times bestselling author of Bad Feminist and Hunger

“One of the most important books of the year. You can’t unread it.” —Barrie Hardymon, NPR’s Weekend Edition

When Myriam decides to return to work as a lawyer after having children, she and her husband look for the perfect nanny for their son and daughter. They never dreamed they would find Louise: a quiet, polite, devoted woman who sings to the children, cleans the family’s chic Paris apartment, stays late without complaint, and hosts enviable kiddie parties. But as the couple and the nanny become more dependent on one another, jealousy, resentment, and suspicions mount, shattering the idyllic tableau. Building tension with every page, The Perfect Nanny is a compulsive, riveting, bravely observed exploration of power, class, race, domesticity, motherhood, and madness—and the American debut of an immensely talented writer.

Not suspenseful

It's just a story about an awkward nanny...no suspense. I couldn't wait for it to be over.

Good premise, vastly disappointing ending

I have never really read French fiction, so I don’t know, culturally, what they are generally like.

This book has some interesting moments. It has some scary insights into the Nanny’s mind.

But the abrupt ending keeps me from fully enjoying this book. Is it a thriller? Definitely not.

Even though this could be considered a character drama, the characters are woefully one-dimensional. The husband is annoying and the wife selfish. The Nanny is interesting, but nothing about anything is fully fleshed out. It feels like a novella from someone who has never written anything of value.

Some will most definitely enjoy it, but I did not.

Unsatisfactory ending

If the murder had not been in the first chapter I would have quit this audiobook. I listened to gain understanding but was left wanting.

What?

Maybe I missed something when I fell asleep every time I listened to this story? Disappointed that there were so many loose ends left at the end. Maybe one can’t explain the unexplainable?

Disappointing abrupt ending

This story started well, but went nowhere and the ending was very abrupt. I was really disappointed. Don’t waste your time.