Nanny Wanted by Lizzy Barber
Genre: Psychological thriller, Suspense, Domestic noir
Read: 20th August 2023
Published: 17th August 2023
★★★★ 3.5 stars (rounded up)
DESCRIPTION:
A remote Cornish mansion. The perfect couple. And the deadly secrets that bind them.
When Lily finally leaves her toxic relationship, a job as a nanny at Kewney Manor seems like the perfect solution. There, she can cut herself off from her old life, and never have to see him again.
The Rowes seem like a model family, and Lily falls instantly in love with her new home. But she can’t help feeling that something isn’t quite right. Why will nobody tell her about the nanny before? Where does Laurie go at night? And what does Charles really want?
As Lily becomes increasingly entangled in the Rowes’ lives, she realizes that the perfect family may not be all that they seem. And as that as much as she fears the past she is running from, perhaps the present is where the real danger lies...
But will she find the answer before it tears her family apart?
MY THOUGHTS:
Keeping secrets is a must...
Last night I dreamt I went to Manderlay again...oops, nope. Wrong book! But seriously, this one had modern day Daphne du Maurier vibes running through it. The author even got a mention here and there throughout. She was most definitely an inspiring factor for this tale.
Lily leaves her toxic relationship with Nick behind and flees to Cornwall when she sees a job for a nanny at Kewney Manor. The perfect solution, she can cut herself off from her old life and all that went with it and focus on moving forward. Only trouble is, she can't seem to leave him behind. Nick seems to be in her every thought or action...even in her new life.
The family she is working for - Charles and Laurie Rowe - seem like the perfect couple with the perfect family. They have two children, Bess and William, and Lily falls instantly in love with her new home. But then strange things begin to happen, as they inevitably do. And soon Lily begins to wonder what she's really got herself into. Where does Laurie disappear to at night in nothing but a robe? And why won't anyone tell her about the nanny before her? What happened to her? And is Charles too smooth?
There is an element of claustrophobia throughout making NANNY WANTED an atmospheric read. It is dark and compelling examining toxic and coercive relationships, mental health all wrapped up into nature versus nurture. It's deliciously dark and disturbing in parts with that hint of du Maurier.
I would like to thank #LizzyBarber, #Netgalley and #PanMacmillan for an ARC of #NannyWanted in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Her debut novel, MY NAME IS ANNA, is the winner of the Daily Mail First Novel Competition, and was published in 2019 in the UK by Penguin Random House, by Mira/Harper Collins in the US and by Albatros in Slovakia.
OUT OF HER DEPTH was published in 2022 by Pan Macmillan in the UK and Harper Collins in the US and was a Richard & Judy Book Club pick. The TV rights have been optioned by Sony.
Her third novel, NANNY WANTED, was published in 2023 by Pan Macmillan.
Lizzy lives in London with her husband, George, a food writer and strategy consultant, and their son, Marlowe.
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