THE NANNY

5 stars out of 5

Delicious complexity! Just when I thought I'd figured it out, I turned the page and found out I was wrong. Read and repeat. Read and repeat. Read and repeat. Know, too, that characters this devious take the definition of dysfunctional family to a whole 'nother level.

When I first started, I groaned - out loud. Oh no, I groused- not another of those books that switches back and forth among characters and time periods. I'm still not a fan of the technique, but I have to admit the author handles it adroitly here, and it didn't take long for me not only to get hooked by each of the three main characters but chomping at the bit to see what would happen next (or what happened before).

Some 30 years after she grew up at Lake Hall in England, Jocelyn Holt - who's been living a happy life in California - reluctantly returns to live with her elderly mother Victoria, accompanied by her young daughter Ruby. Jo, as she now wants to be called, has been estranged from her mother, with whom she had a contentious relationship as a child. She much preferred the company of her nanny, Hannah - who one day went missing, after which Victoria told the young Jo that it was her bad behavior that drove her loving nanny away.

Then, when Jo takes Ruby on a rowboat trip to a small island in the estate's lake, Ruby makes a disturbing discovery: the remains of a human body. Jo calls in the police, much to her mother's consternation - making Jo wonder exactly what Victoria really knows and trust her even less than she did before. But now, there's a twist: just as Jo became more attached to her nanny than her mother, young Ruby has taken an unexpectedly strong attachment to Victoria. Like mother, like daughter? Perhaps; only time will tell.

Then comes a new thorn in Victoria's side: the appearance of a person she never thought she'd see again (and never wanted to). It throws Jo for a loop as well, adding more fuel to an already smoldering fire. Little by little, insights into what Jo's childhood, and her parents' marriage, are revealed - making for an absolutely riveting, surprise-filled story. Love it? You bet. And I thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read an advance copy.

The Nanny by Gilly Macmillan (William Morrow, September 2019); 400 pp.