Nannies make great characters in fiction because they’re outsiders who’ve been invited into the heart of a family. If the word Nanny reminds you of Mary Poppins, Nanny McPhee or even Fran Drescher (you remember), then this book may force you to do a rethink. Jo’s beloved nanny, Hannah, left without a trace in the summer of 1988, Haunted by the loss, Jo eventually left her parents and her home behind. Thirty years later, Jo returns to her house and is forced to confront her troubled relationship

3.25 STARSIt was okay! I enjoyed some parts quite a bit and others were way far-fetched. The audio version made it more enjoyable.Pretty standard, but the nanny certainly added some creepiness. What is it about Nannies?I did skim several parts that were just a bit wordy for me. I would like to read more from the author. This was a library loan and I had the Audible version for when I was traveling.

The Nanny is my first read by Gilly Macmillan, and I'm not entirely sure why I've waited this long to read something by this notable author. It's getting harder and harder for thriller/mystery novels to succeed in this oversaturated market, especially when publishers are asking for new titles each year. The Nanny is a novel that is reminiscent of Ruth Ware's gothic-noir type of writing, infused with the character study of Liane Moriarty. The Nanny takes place during two different tim

This was one of the least mysterious mysteries I've ever read. Usually Gilly Macmillan really does it for me, oh well- maybe her next one!

Slow-burn, upsetting, & deceptively appealing!I fell in love with Gilly Macmillan and her books after reading WHAT SHE KNEW and since have subsequently read or have snatched myself up all of her other books so I have them on hand. I have a habit of “collecting” author’s books after loving one. I did have every intention of reading them but some of my ARC’s have gotten in the way of reading authors that I favour and enjoy. So I was beyond ecstatic when I received a physical ARC of THE NANNY. THE

I’ve been reading this on and off from last night. I read the bulk of this book until dawn. I finished the rest over breakfast and lunch.The book was glued to my hands, I really had a job putting it down.I love a dysfunctional family, and we certainly have one in the story, I loved the “rich class higher archly “ in this too. “We have servants”. The Nanny is a class pounding thriller that I loved. Plenty to get your teeth into.Highly recommend

The nanny in this novel is not quite the Mary Poppins figure that usually springs to mind when nannies are mentioned, but a more devious, scheming person looking out for number one. In 1987, Hannah Burgess worked as a nanny for Lord and Lady Holt, looking after their 7 year old Jocelyn until one morning Jocelyn wakes up to find Hannah gone with no explanation. Now 30 years later, Jocelyn (or Jo as she now calls herself) and her young daughter are forced back to live with her estranged and bitter...

I was expecting ‘sonething’ from this book but in fact got a very different book to what I had imaginedThe Holts are titled and noble folk and even though it is just Lady Holt now in the big manor house she keeps appearances and customs as they always have been, stiff upper lip, straight backed and aloof and still employs ‘staff’ ( I adored her in all her entitled luxury ).....’Jo’ her daughter has arrived after a tragedy and is now also penniless, with her is her daughter, she has lived in Amer...

What a surprising, slow-burn thriller with unlikable but somehow appreciable characters (if you handle a little batshit craziness and sociopathic tendencies, they were all right!), gripping reading making you captive and forcing you brainstorming about what’s going to happen next and then sucker punching you at unforeseeable second with a great revelation! BAM! Yes giving my four stars and throwing my tequila shot against my mouth (This time Chardonnay is too light to absorb this kind of thrille...

4.5 stars! I LOVED this book!This book had all the elements of a perfect read for me. Exquisite, slow burn, creep under your skin writing. Old countryside manor house. Gothic, tension-filled atmosphere. Mysterious characters. Old family secrets discovered. This was right up my alley!This novel follows the prestigious Holt family. The Holts hire Nanny Hannah to look after their only daughter, Jo, who develops a deep bond that outshines her relationship with her own mother. Nanny Hannah shocks eve...

Jo was seven years old when her nanny, Hannah, left years ago. The loss disconnected her, and as soon as she could, she left her family and those memories at Lake Hall behind.Over thirty years later, Jo is back at Lake Hall where she has to face her mother. At the same time, human remains are found in a lake on the property and what could that mean?This is immediately followed by a visitor showing up and tearing Jo’s world apart all over again. Her mission becomes finding out just who her nanny

This book started out well and won my attention when all of the characters are introduced. I liked that each of the characters possesses his/her own unique personalities. I smiled at Detective Andy's humor on wealthy people and felt angry at Jo for her blind loyalty. This story was a page turner for me up until the middle of the book and then it began to drag. I don't enjoy all that arts stuff.
This book started with a prologue. Then the story begins, told in the third person point of view follo...

Now you see her.Now you don't.Gilly Macmillan presents a whirlwind game of musical chairs through a sharply faceted range of hard-to-pinpoint characters. Some travel light and some seem to drag in copious amounts of weighted baggage. Baggage with their own nametags and baggage from anonymous sources.Jocelyn, also known as Jo, is stumbling out of the shocking corridor of recent widowhood. She and her young daughter, Ruby, are leaving California behind in order to rebuild a life once again in the

In 1987, Hannah Burgess worked as a nanny for Lord & Lady Holt, looking after their seven year old daughter Jocelyn. One morning Jocelyn awakes to find Hannah has left with no reason. It's now thirty years later and Jocelyn and her daughter, Ruby have no choice but to move back in with her bitter estranged widowed mother after Jocelyn's husband died. Ruby and her grandmother quickly form a relationship. I don't want to say much more as I don't want to spoil it for you. The book does start as a b...

If you enjoy a mystery involving family secrets where nothing is quite as it seems, The Nanny is definitely for you. Told in alternating points of view, The Nanny tells the tale of Jocelyn Holt as she is forced to return to her childhood home after the death of her husband. Jocelyn must face her estranged mother, while trying to put her and her daughter's life back together. If that wasn't hard enough - a skull is uncovered on the estate's lake, stirring up memories of Jo's beloved Nanny who dis...

2.5 I made the decision at the end of last year to for go many of the psychological thrillers being written. I connected to do few of them and they were all blending together in my head. So, this is one of the few I have read this year, but found myself having the same problem. Different characters telling the story, made this book, for me, choppy reading. Very seldom does this format work for me, though there have been a few exceptions. The sections narrated by Detective Andy, were nonensial,,

Sometimes the truth hurts so much, you'd rather hear the lie.
Gilly MacMillan has crafted a haunting and atmospheric story. An eerie tale threaded with Mystery with a strong Gothic feel. This was not a fast paced edge of your seat thriller full of twists and turns. This was a slow burn that completely transported me into the lives of these characters. I could feel the chill in the air and the goosebumps on my skin, I was right there in this big creepy house with Virginia, Jo, Hannah, and Ruby. T...

2.5 stars — I decided to give Gilly Macmillan another chance after being less than thrilled with “What She Knew” when I read it a few years ago. “The Nanny”, like all of Ms. Macmillan’s books, has a good premise. Jo, a newly widowed mother, and her daughter, Ruby, are forced to move back to England to live with her estranged widowed mother after being left financially destitute when her husband died. The drama begins when early in her stay, Jo and her daughter find a dead body in the lake outsid...

I have never rated a Gilly Macmillan book under 4 stars, and this one is no exception!! When her beloved nanny Hannah, left without a trace in 1988, seven year old, Jocelyn was devastated.Haunted by loss, she grew up bitter and distant -only returning to her family home in desperation after the unexpected death of her husband.She has been estranged from her Mother for thirty years, but she must put her own daughter, Ruby, first, so with nowhere else to go, the pair leave California, for the very...

Find all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/2.5 StarsWhen you spend your entire life making comments like this . . . . Not everything ends up being a winner. My mediocre reaction to this one can probably be blamed on the fact that I have read quite a few stories revolving around . . . . And, unfortunately, when it comes to stories of caretakers who just up and went “poof” in the night, I kinda liked The Au Pair better. This book was perfectly fine - it just didn’t blow m...