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Title: The Nanny Diaries: A Novel by Emma McLaughlin, Nicola Kraus ISBN: 0312278586 Publisher: St. Martin's Press Pub. Date: March, 2002 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.7
Rating: 5
Summary: Couldn't put it down
Comment: My sister-in-law was a nanny for several years, so when I saw this book, I had to get it for both of us. Every story she ever told me has unfolded in this 306 page book.
The authors, former nannies themselves, have a disclaimer at the front of the book stating that the characters written are completely ficticious and not based on any particular past employer. This must be why the main character's name is simply "Nanny", and her employers are "Mr. and Mrs. X". Nanny has just been hired by the wealthy Xes to look after their son Grayer. She is to replace the old nanny, who had the audacity to request a week off to visit her sick sister in Australia. Nanny is just looking to keep her rent money coming in while completing her senior year at NYC, but soon finds that she is drawn to poor little Grayer, who at times can be a pill, but for the most part is just a poor little rich kid who wants his parents to notice him. Mrs. X spends most of her time shopping, planning dinner parties (in the hopes that her absentee/workaholic husband just might spend time with them), and volunteering on several committees. Nanny is used to the explicit demands Mrs. X requests for Grayer, and is not surprised when Mrs. X constantly asks her to do extra chores she wasn't hired for (like picking up Mrs. X's dry cleaning, picking up about 12 different items for a 30 people dinner party, or even escorting Grayer and the Xes to a fancy executive Halloween bash dressed as a giant Teletubby- one of the funniest passages in the book). Or, she'll show up 2 hours past the time she told Nanny she'd be home, leaving Nanny little more than 15 minutes to get to a school to give a speech that will determine whether she passes or fails. Nanny feels it's worth it, though, when the envelope of cash comes at the end of the week ("most nannies are paid under the table", she tells us).
Even so, Nanny gets more than she bargained for when, at the Halloween bash, she and Grayer walk in on Mr. X and his Chicago executive (whom the book simply calls "Ms. Chicago")making out. Mr. X acts as if mothing is amiss, and Nanny is left to question whether or not she should report this infidelity to his wife. Slowly, Mrs. X begins to get her own suspicions, and Grayer begins to fall apart under the obvious cloud of neglect and dread that his father has stirred up. Nanny wants to run, but feels obligated to navigate these treacherous adult waters for Grayer, hoping things will calm down on their own. Meanwhile, she's also fallen for a Harvard student that lives in the Xes building, leaving Mrs. X to treat her badly and hurl rude comments at her because she is jealous of the happiness Nanny is finding with a guy. Hhhmph! How can Nanny tread through these tumultuous waters and still graduate from NYC? You'll have to find out for yourself. I read this book in less than 48 hours because I couldn't wait to find out what outrageous thing Mrs. X would come up with next. After listening to my sis-in-law's horror stories, I found that I wasn't surprised about the Xes shannanigans. All in all, a very interesting look into the frustrating world of raising someone elses children under extreme conditions.
Rating: 3
Summary: An insightful but sad, depressing book
Comment: While this book showed how unbelievably rude, inconsiderate, and self-centered some people can be, it also showed how the main character can lack a backbone, and have only herself to blame for becoming someone else's doormat.
This book was entertaining at first, because it amuses me to think that these superwealthy, spoiled women even bother to get out of bed in the morning, given that their lives are wholly empty and meaningless lives. But half-way through, it became sad and depressing, as we see how this absent parenting (and when the parents ARE around, it's merely because the child is needed as decoration for a social function) creates yet another generation of self-absorbed people whose lives, yet again, lack meaning. The appearance of Mr. X's mother late in the book makes it so easy to see how Mr. X turned out the way he did, and that his son Grayer is destined to follow in his dad's footsteps.
Perhaps those envious of wealthy people's money should read this, and discover that money does not, indeed, buy you happiness or love. In fact, too much of it probably makes you downright miserable.
Rating: 4
Summary: Validates my reasons for not being a nanny...
Comment: After reading The Nanny Diaries, I can tell you this for sure -- I'd never have the patience to be a nanny. Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus have written a cringing story of the rich, pretentious, and motherly -- and those who are paid to deal with them. This tender portrayal of the bond between child and caregiver, however, shows how putting up with selfish, snotty mothers can make it all worthwhile.
NYU Senior, Nanny, takes up a job as nanny to 4-year-old Grayer X as a way to pay for her overpriced New York apartment. The X family is every nannies nightmare: rich, selfish, unapproachable. Especially heartbreaking is the way they interact with their own child. Sure, Grayer has the world handed to him on a silver platter, but all the love and attention responsibilities fall into the hands of Nanny. And as time moves on, the X family becomes increasingly difficult to handle, and the situations Nanny puts up with will have readers red-faced with emotions.
If this novel doesn't garner some respect for the nanny profession, something must be wrong! The ending of this book satisfied me beyond belief -- I cried, I shouted, I whooped for joy. The Nanny Diaries will definitely mess with your emotions, which is the true mark of a very good book. Highly recommended -- an excellent debut novel. Will be looking for more in the future from these two young authors.
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Title: The Lovely Bones: A Novel by Alice Sebold ISBN: 0316666343 Publisher: Little Brown & Company Pub. Date: June, 2002 List Price(USD): $21.95 |
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Title: The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd ISBN: 0142001740 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: 28 January, 2003 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: I Don't Know How She Does It: The Life of Kate Reddy, Working Mother by Allison Pearson ISBN: 0375414053 Publisher: Knopf Pub. Date: 01 October, 2002 List Price(USD): $23.00 |
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Title: Life of Pi by Yann Martel ISBN: 0156027321 Publisher: Harvest Books Pub. Date: May, 2003 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Atonement by Ian McEwan ISBN: 038572179X Publisher: Anchor Pub. Date: 25 February, 2003 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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