A Book A Week

Working from my backlog again this week, I turn to The Nanny by Gilly Macmillan. I read a lot of thrillers and mysteries, so naturally there are countless authors who I have yet to encounter. Macmillan is one such author. I've been aware of her books for several years now, but I've never gotten to an opportunity to read one of her books. Enter The Nanny. I jumped at the chance to review this one when the publisher offered me a copy late last year. I devoured the novel in a few short sittings, and then, as is too often the case, it sat on my list of books to write a review for. At the start of this year, I vowed to work through that list of last year's reads, and have done a pretty good job of working my way through it. So without further ado, here are some thoughts on The Nanny. 

As is popular in many modern thrillers, The Nanny unfolds through alternating time periods, shifting between the past and present. I usually have a mixed reaction to this technique. Frankly, the shifting time periods can often muddy the clarity of the narrative and make it hard to follow along. That is not the case with this one at all. Macmillan effortlessly manages to keep the two time periods distinct while slowly driving them toward a very satisfying conclusion. If you are going to employ a common technique, you better do it well. Macmillan masterfully weaves together both of her narrative threads.

The novel focuses on the wealthy Holt family. Thirty years ago, Mr. and Mrs. Holt hired a nanny named Hannah to look after their daughter Jo. Jo's mother has always been more concerned with maintaining the family's high societal position than fostering a strong relationship with her daughter. While Lady Virginia Holt meticulously tended to the Holt estate, a strong, mother-daughter like bond formed between Hannah and Jo. Then one day everything changed. Hannah went missing out of the blue. Jo was beside herself, longing to continue the warm relationship she had with her nanny. Lady Virginia told Jo that she was the reason for Hannah's sudden departure. Jo's bad behavior became too much for the nanny to bear and drove her away.

In the present day, Jo and her young daughter Ruby are abandoning their life in California and returning to her childhood home in the English countryside. The sudden loss of Jo's husband precipitated the need for this sudden change. Jo and Virginia have been estranged for years, but they are the only family each other has left. Nothing brings a family together like a tragedy. As Jo and Ruby begin to settle into their new life, they decide to take a rowboat to the island in the middle of the small lake that rests behind the Holt estate. On the island, Ruby makes a startling discovery, the remains of what can only be a human skull.

The Nanny by Gilly Macmillan mixes family drama and childhood trauma with a modern-day thriller, the kind that will have you devouring the book in only a few sittings. I've already mentioned that the alternating timelines work well in this one. They truly add to the suspense as the revelations of the past begin to impact the motivations of the present-day character. The story in this one unfolds pretty much as I expected it to. I'm not sure if that has more to do with the story itself of just the pure amount of thrillers that I read these days. Still, there weren't any real shocks or twists that I didn't see coming in advance. That being said, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't glued to this book. Each of the characters are well-written, the kind of characters that have enough emotional depth and complexity to sustain this otherwise straightforward narrative. Macmillan writes of a family drama that is relatable and increasingly engaging as the novel progresses. The Nanny is a solid thriller with the kind of flawed and believable characters that I love reading about. I'll be eager to read more from Macmillan soon.

For more information visit the author's website, Amazon, and Goodreads.
(2019, 39)