The Nanny by Gilly MacMillan
When Jocelyn Holt was seven years old, her beloved nanny left in the middle of the night without saying goodbye. When she asked where Nanny Hannah had gone, her mother blamed Jocelyn for the nanny's departure, saying that she was a terrible child and the nanny couldn't stand her anymore. With her parents spending most of their time in London, the little girl was soon shipped off to boarding school, and she never forgave her parents' for her loveless childhood. Thirty years later, Jo is widowed and forced to return to her family's estate in rural England with her daughter, Ruby. While Jo and Ruby are boating on the lake, they find a human skull in the water. Jo suspects it may be Hannah, but if it is, who put it there? And if it's not Hannah, who is it?
I enjoyed this very much. Nannies are popular fictional characters because they are outsiders who are invited into the home to share intimate space with the family. Fictional nannies can be wonderful (like Mary Poppins) or they can be psychopaths. I usually don't read "nanny" books (The Perfect Nanny, Woman No. 17, The Au Pair) because the nannies all tend to be troubled women out for revenge, but this one appealed to me because it was about a missing person at an English country home that might be a cold case.
The Nanny includes many of the themes that make psychological fiction so great: family secrets, false identity, tense relations between the family and the locals, missing or false memories, illegal business dealings. With interesting characters and fast pacing, this is a great reading choice for vacation or a long weekend.
Many thanks to NetGally and the publisher for an e-ARC in return for a review.
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