The Nanny by Gilly Macmillan
Genre: Psychological thriller, domestic thriller
Read: 21st June 2019
Purchase: Amazon
(release date: 27th June 2019)
★★★★★ 5 stars
While I was expecting "something" from this book, THE NANNY delivered something very different from what I had imagined. It was compelling. It was masterful. It was just brilliant. Just WOW!
The story begins in 1987 with 7 year old Jocelyn waking one morning to find her nanny has disappeared overnight. She is devastated and distraught, for little Jocelyn adored her Nanny Hannah, and couldn't understand what she had done to make her leave so suddenly. Hannah Burgess had worked for the Holts at Lake House for seven years, having taken up the position when Lady Virginia was still pregnant. Suffice to say, Hannah was like a mother to Jocelyn as her own mother grew more distant over the years. It was always Hannah the child wanted, not her mother. And as a result, Jocelyn grew up distant, bitter and resentful towards her mother Virginia, long after Hannah had left them.
Thirty years later and Jo (as she is now called) returns with her 10 year old daughter Ruby from America after the tragic death of her husband Chris. Sadly, her own father had died just two months before from a heart attack, and she never returned for his funeral because it meant dealing with her mother. Jo adored her father and she feels his loss deeply alongside that of her husband. But now she has returned home to Lake Hall not because she wants to but because she has to. After her husband's death, her residential status in America was no longer validated and therefore she had no choice but to return home. It uprooted both her and Ruby, for it was their home and the only one Ruby had ever known. But needs must, and it was only until she got on her feet again.
The tension between Jo and Virginia is palpable. You could cut the air with a knife at times. Everything Virginia said, Jo took exception to and vice versa. The two women could hardly get along. The only light between them was Ruby. Virginia adored her granddaughter and indulged her every chance she could, which Jo (again) took exception to. Despite Jo having had a very privileged childhood, she did not want the same for her own daughter. The airs and graces that came with the aristocracy was what put such a distance between her own mother and herself - she couldn't bear for it to happen with Ruby. But Ruby is an adventurous spirit - a tomboy - and she thrives on running rampant around the grounds of Lake Hall, climbing walls and exploring.
One day, Jo takes Ruby on a boat out on the lake she has been dying to explore and they end up at the little island in the centre. Virginia had been adamant in her refusal to allow them anywhere near it, but Jo didn't see the harm. However, that changes when Ruby makes a shocking find in the shallow waters of the island. A human skull. Jo quickly ushers Ruby back in the boat and they hurry back to Lake Hall...all the while, with Ruby looking back in awe at the find and wishing she had her phone to take a photo to show her friends.
The police are called and an investigation is underway to find out who the skull belongs to and how they got there. Rumours run riot in the village, with whispers of it being the way the Holts dispersed of their insolent family members. How many more bodies lay in deep dark lake? How many more secrets does it hold?
Virginia is quietly nervous about the find for she believes she know whose skull it is. After all, she put the body in there herself some thirty years ago! But she is staunch in her silence. And just as quietly, Jo begins to wonder whether her mother was somehow involved in Nanny Hannah's disappearance. But are the two incidents related?
Jo tries questioning her mother about the night Hannah disappeared as she remembers nothing beyond being told "Hannah left because you were such a horrible child!" But being back at Lake House brings memories long since buried and Jo finds herself continually thinking about Hannah. But Virginia refuses to discuss it. Hannah left and is never to be spoken of again...so imagine her surprise when Hannah returns!
Thrilled at the return of her nanny, Jo invites her back to Lake Hall as Ruby's nanny while she commutes to London four days a week for her new job in an art gallery. Virginia is aghast! She doesn't see why she can't look after Ruby herself but she has proved herself incapable of doing so on more than one occasion and Jo believes Hannah is the answer to all their problems. But Virginia doesn't think so.
Who is this woman who calls herself Hannah? Is she really Hannah or is she just masquerading as her? Virginia doesn't believe it could be, for she put Hannah's body in the lake thirty years ago and her skull has just been recovered! So who is this woman? One thing is for sure, whoever she is, Virginia doesn't trust her. And neither does Ruby...and she says as much to her mother on more than one occasion. But Jo doesn't believe either her mother or her daughter. She trusts Hannah. She has nothing but wonderful memories of her time with Hannah as a child and wants to pass that on to Ruby.
But Ruby begins to withdraw and is constantly tired. She loses that sparkle that was always there when they first arrived. She no longer explores or even wants to. Then when Virginia notices the bruises on her arm, Ruby discloses it was Hannah but rescinds it when Jo asks her about them. Virginia begins to wonder what Hannah's motives are, while Jo remains oblivious, silently (and not-so-silently) thanking her lucky stars for Hannah.
As the story unfolds through dual timelines, the reader begins to realise that Hannah is not all she appears to be. So what deep dark secrets of the past does she bring with her?
THE NANNY is layered with complexities throughout and various plots within, embellished with secrets upon secrets upon secrets that will have you turning the pages long into the night! Perceptions change with each chapter and the reader is left wondering - who is lying? Who is telling the truth?
When the story began, I saw things through Jocelyn's eyes and tend to side with her to the point I, too, disliked her mother. But as the story progressed, my perception changed and I began to sympathise with Virginia and grow irritated with Jo for being so selfish and frustratingly blind! There were times I wanted to shake her and scream "You may not believe your mother, but do you really think Ruby would lie so blatantly?" The thought that she was telling lies was a seed planted by Hannah in the first place and as I began to question Hannah's true motives I thought Jo could benefit from a slap or two at times.
While Virginia was portrayed as the uncaring mother in the beginning, the reader must remember that was through Jocelyn's eyes, and as the story progressed I began to feel sad for Virginia. While she appeared to be a negative presence in the beginning, as the reader we soon begin to understand her and feel for her as a vulnerable old lady. This was her home and she was losing all control of it to the point she didn't even feel comfortable there. I felt sad that her opinions and views were overlooked so callously by her daughter that her existence was merely devalued. In her 70s, Virginia was still a very strong woman but was of insignificant worth to everyone but Ruby, who adored her grandmother. I think Jocelyn may have even been a little jealous when watching them together because Virginia was never that way with her as a child. No, that was because she had Hannah and she saw to it that Jocelyn relied solely upon her and no matter what attempts Virginia tried to make to be closer to her daughter, they failed.
In the end, I found it ironic and even amusing that while Jocelyn tries so much to be different from her own mother in doing so she ends up adopting the same dismissive parenting approach with Ruby.
Throughout dual timelines beginning in 1976 through to 1987 and the present day, we are privy to the story as told by a cast of characters - Jocelyn, Virginia, Hannah and the detective investigating the discovery of the skull. Only Jocelyn and Virginia's chapters are in the first person, with the others being in the third person. But each chapter is telling in its own way through each character as the reader sees how differently things are perceived through Jocelyn and Virginia's eyes.
The past chapters, taking place from 1976 to 1985, from Hannah's perspective are incredibly telling - and even chilling - as the reader learns more about her and her motives. This insight into the Hannah we know is both eerie and frightening. So why is she back now? And what has she come for?
THE NANNY is anything but the Mary Poppins type many of us have grown up with. She is cold, calculating, devious and back with a vengeance. I didn't trust her and couldn't see why Jocelyn did. With each page, I kept waiting for Hannah to reveal herself - how, I don't know, but it was with baited breath I kept turning the pages into the night.
The ending was intense and completely unexpected as the moment of revelation unraveled the many secrets that was held within the pages from start to finish. I did feel it was a bit rushed as it was so sudden but the intensity made it a compelling end to what was an absorbing and intriguing thriller. There were a couple of things I felt that could have been tied up with a little more finality to them but the end result was the same. Without giving too much away, for example, regarding Virginia's tablets...I just felt they could have been confirmed rather than just insinuated.
But that aside, THE NANNY is beautifully plotted and a definite five star read that had everything I love in a book. A mystery with twists and thrills, a touch of historical fiction, dual timelines and multiple narratives. The descriptions are rich and vivid that the reader feels as if they are living the tale as they read.
This is my first Gilly Macmillan and it won't be my last. I just hope her other books can live up to this brilliant offering.
I would like to thank #GillyMacmillan, #NetGalley and #RandomeHouseUK and #Cornerstone for an ARC of #TheNanny in exchange for an honest review.
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