The perfect nanny : a novel

Title:

Uniform Title:

Chanson douce. English

Author:

Slimani, Leïla, 1981- author.

Added Author:

Taylor, Sam, 1970-

Personal Author:

Slimani, Leïla, 1981- author.

ISBN:

9780143132172

Physical Description:

228 pages ; 20 cm

General Note:

"Originally published in French as Chanson Douce by Editions Gallimard, Paris." -- Title page verso.

Abstract:

"When Myriam, a French-Moroccan lawyer, decides to return to work after having children, she and her husband look for the perfect nanny for their two young children. They never dreamed they would find Louise: a quiet, polite, devoted woman who sings to the children, cleans the family's chic apartment in Paris's upscale tenth arrondissement, 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, and motherhood--and the American debut of an immensely talented writer"-- Provided by publisher.

Subject Term:

Families -- France -- Paris -- Fiction.

Interpersonal conflict -- France -- Paris -- Fiction.

Murder -- France -- Paris -- Fiction.

Nannies -- France -- Paris -- Fiction.

Social classes -- France -- Paris -- Fiction.

Genre:

Domestic fiction.

Summary:

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Shelf Number	Status
Searching... Ginter Park	Book	FICTION SLIMANI	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Main Library	Book	FICTION SLIMANI	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

*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.

Reviews (1)

Kirkus Review

This novel about a murderous nanny, Moroccan author Slimani's first to be published in the U.S., was awarded the 2016 Priz Goncourt.Inspired by a 2012 case involving an Upper West Side nanny accused of killing two children in her charge, Slimani's novel moves the story to a similarly upscale locale, the tenth arrondissement of Paris. Since the book opens with the murders, leaving no doubt as to the culprit, the reader quickly gathers that the inquiry here is not who did it but why. A narrative that is chiefly flashback attempts to reverse-engineer an explanation. Louise, a middle-aged widow with an estranged adult daughter, is hired by a professional couple to look after their young children, Mila and Adam. The father, Paul, is a rising music producer, and the mother, Myriam, an attorney who's just taken a demanding position at a law firm. Myriam and Paul are pleasantly surprised by Louise's spectacular suitability for her job: not only does she quickly win over the children with her creative games and sense of play, but she goes above and beyond a nanny's role, becoming a housekeeper and general factotum. Never has the apartment looked so clean, never have meals been so appetizing and nourishing. Her employers take Louise along on their summer vacation to Greece, where she begins to see possibilities beyond her constricted life. However, the idyll is threatened on all sides when the pathology underlying Louise's perfectionism begins to emerge. The near-omniscient point of view darts in and out of the consciousness of many characters, some quite marginal. Consequently, the depiction of internal pressures building to a homicidal pitch is fragmentary at best. Ultimately, the evidence against Louise, whether of compulsive behavior, mental illness, bad luck, or just extreme loneliness, does not add up to a motive for infanticide. The prose, despite Taylor's often slapdash translation, manages to convey an atmosphere of creeping dread reminiscent of Modiano, but with more lurid details.The why of this horrific crime remains unfathomable, rendering it all the more frightening. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.