{"id":14595,"date":"2023-10-05T01:00:38","date_gmt":"2023-10-05T05:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/?p=14595"},"modified":"2026-08-09T00:47:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-09T04:47:24","slug":"book-the-perfect-nanny","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/book-the-perfect-nanny\/","title":{"rendered":"The Perfect Nanny"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"book-2248\" class=\"bdb-book-info\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/book_theperfectnanny.png?fit=250%2C385&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"The Perfect Nanny\" class=\"alignright\"\/><strong>Title:<\/strong> The Perfect Nanny<br \/><strong>Author:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/book-database\/author\/leila-slimani\/\">Leila Slimani<\/a><br \/><strong>Translator:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/book-database\/translator\/sam-taylor\/\">Sam Taylor<\/a><br \/><strong>First Published:<\/strong> <span content=\"2016-08-18\">August 18, 2016<\/span><br \/><strong>Publisher:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/book-database\/publisher\/penguin-books\/\">Penguin Books<\/a><br \/><strong>Pages:<\/strong> 240<br \/><strong>Genre:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/book-database\/genre\/domestic-thriller\/\">Domestic Thriller<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/book-database\/genre\/literary-fiction\/\">Literary Fiction<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/book-database\/genre\/psychological\/\">Psychological<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/book-database\/genre\/thriller\/\">Thriller<\/a><br \/><strong>Format:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/book-database\/format\/paperback\/\">Paperback<\/a><br \/><strong>Source:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/book-database\/source\/library\/\">Library<\/a><br \/><strong>Rating:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/book-database\/rating\/3\/\"><span class=\"bdb-font-awesome-star-wrap\"><i class=\"fas fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"fas fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"fas fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"far fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"far fa-star\"><\/i><\/span><\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/book\/show\/38330854-the-perfect-nanny\" target=\"_blank\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/addtogoodreads.png?ssl=1\" align=\"left\" border=\"0\"\/><\/a><br \/><br \/><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong> <p>When Myriam decides to return to work as a lawyer after having children, she and her husband look for the perfect nanny for their son and daughter. They never dreamed they would find Louise: a quiet, polite, devoted woman who sings to the children, cleans the family\u2019s chic Paris apartment, stays late without complaint, and hosts enviable kiddie parties. But as the couple and the nanny become more dependent on one another, jealousy, resentment, and suspicions mount, shattering the idyllic tableau. Building tension with every page, The Perfect Nanny is a compulsive, riveting, bravely observed exploration of power, class, race, domesticity, motherhood, and madness\u2014and the American debut of an immensely talented writer.<\/p>\n<strong>Get the Book:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/4eW4wda\" target=\"_blank\">Amazon<\/a>\r\n<hr \/><\/div>\t\t<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">\n\t\t\t{\n\t\t\t\t\"@context\": \"https:\/\/schema.org\/\",\n\t\t\t\t\"@type\": \"Review\",\n\t\t\t\t\"datePublished\": \"2023-10-05T05:00:38+00:00\",\n\t\t\t\t\"description\": \"The Perfect Nanny\",\n\t\t\t\t\"publisher\": {\n\t\t\t\t\t\"@type\": \"Organization\",\n\t\t\t\t\t\"name\": \"Radical Dreamer\"\t\t\t\t},\n\t\t\t\t\"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/pastelgoth.net\\\/blog\\\/book-the-perfect-nanny\\\/\",\n\t\t\t\t\"itemReviewed\": {\n\t\t\t\t\t\"@type\": \"Book\",\n\t\t\t\t\t\"name\": \"The Perfect Nanny\",\n\t\t\t\t\t\"author\": [\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t{\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"name\": \"Leila Slimani\",\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"sameAs\": \"https:\\\/\\\/pastelgoth.net\\\/blog\\\/book-database\\\/author\\\/leila-slimani\\\/\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t],\n\t\t\t\t\t\"isbn\": \"\",\n\t\t\t\t\t\"numberOfPages\": 240,\n\t\t\t\t\t\"publisher\": {\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\"@type\": \"Organization\",\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\"name\": \"Penguin Books\"\t\t\t\t\t},\n\t\t\t\t\t\"image\": \"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/pastelgoth.net\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/book_theperfectnanny.png?fit=250%2C385&ssl=1\",\n\t\t\t\t\t\"datePublished\": \"2016-08-18T00:00:00+00:00\",\n\t\t\t\t\t\"sameAs\": \"https:\\\/\\\/www.goodreads.com\\\/book\\\/show\\\/38330854-the-perfect-nanny\",\n\t\t\t\t\t\"genre\": \"Domestic Thriller\"\t\t\t\t},\n\t\t\t\t\"author\": {\n\t\t\t\t\t\"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t\t\t\t\t\"name\": \"Jamie\",\n\t\t\t\t\t\"sameAs\": \"https:\\\/\\\/pastelgoth.net\\\/blog\\\/\"\t\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t, \"reviewRating\": {\n\t\t\t\t\t\"@type\": \"Rating\",\n\t\t\t\t\t\"ratingValue\": 3,\n\t\t\t\t\t\"bestRating\": 5\t\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}\n\t\t<\/script>\n\t\t\n<h2>Review<\/h2>\n<p>I really struggled to put my thoughts together on this book, partially because <em>The Perfect Nanny<\/em> was not what I had expected and one of the more unique stories I&#8217;ve ever read. I feel that it is mis-marketed as a mystery thriller and it was neither. To me this is a literary horror novel through and through. I think I would have liked this book better if I had known this beforehand.<\/p>\n<p>The plot is slow and very intense as a portrait of Louise is formed from the point of view of other characters and their interactions with her. It occurred to me after a time that the shifting narration was important, because it presents the story of the &#8220;perfect nanny&#8221; almost like a ghost story, a witness statement to the police about the perpetrator.<\/p>\n<p>The prose is taut and very precise, creating an uncomfortable, almost suffocating atmosphere for the reader. This is an introspective novel, with a lot of commentary on the roles of women as caregivers and French society. It&#8217;s an interesting character study and I enjoyed it quite a bit, especially after I took some time to let the story sink in. If you&#8217;re looking for a traditional mystery with a cause and exciting climax you&#8217;ll find yourself disappointed.<\/p>\n<p>After reading the book I was surprised to find out that the story is loosely based on <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Deaths_of_Lucia_and_Leo_Krim\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a real tragedy<\/a> that happened back in 2012. Learning this made the book all the more chilling.<\/p>\n<h2>Quote<\/h2>\n<p><center><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;She gave the baby a bath and thought to herself that this happiness\u2013this simple, silent, prisonlike happiness\u2013was not enough to console her.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center><\/p>\n<h2>Content Warnings<\/h2>\n<span class=\"ubb-spoiler\"><a class=\"ubb-view-spoil\">View Spoiler &raquo;<\/a><span style=\"display: none;\" class=\"ubb-thespoil\">Child Death, Murder <a class=\"ubb-hide-spoil\" style=\"cursor: hand; cursor: pointer;\">&laquo; Hide Spoiler<\/a><\/span><\/span>\n<h2>About the Author<\/h2>\n<div class=\"ubb-about-author\">\n<h3>About Leila Slimani<\/h3>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"200\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/author_leilaslimani.png?fit=200%2C200&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"alignleft ubb-about-author-photo\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/author_leilaslimani.png?w=200&amp;ssl=1 200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/author_leilaslimani.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/author_leilaslimani.png?resize=75%2C75&amp;ssl=1 75w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Le\u00efla Slimani is a French writer and journalist of Moroccan ancestry. In 2016 she was awarded the Prix Goncourt for her novel Chanson douce.<\/p>\n<p>Slimani was born in Rabat, Morocco and studied later political science and media studies in Paris. After that she temporarily considered a career as an actress and began to work as a journalist for the magazine Jeune Afrique. In 2014 she published her first novel Dans le jardin de l\u2019ogre, which two years later was followed by the psychological thriller Chanson douce. The latter quickly turned into a bestseller with over 450,000 copies printed within a year even before the book was awarded the Prix Goncourt.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ubb-author-links\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/author\/show\/8555975.Le_la_Slimani\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"\">Goodreads<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3NDdVKG\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"\">Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Review I really struggled to put my thoughts together on this book, partially because The Perfect Nanny was not what I had expected and one of the more unique stories&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14597,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[9],"tags":[2997,248,917,3302,3303,2023,60],"book-author":[1336],"book-illustrator":[],"book-series":[],"book-publisher":[],"book-genre":[],"book-source":[],"book-format":[],"class_list":["post-14595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-review","tag-based-on-a-true-story","tag-european-literature","tag-french-literature","tag-lucia-and-leo-krim","tag-prix-goncourt","tag-set-in-france","tag-translated","book-author-leila-slimani"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/book_theperfectnanny-header.png?fit=1080%2C540&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14595"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14595\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32427,"href":"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14595\/revisions\/32427"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14595"},{"taxonomy":"book-author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/book-author?post=14595"},{"taxonomy":"book-illustrator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/book-illustrator?post=14595"},{"taxonomy":"book-series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/book-series?post=14595"},{"taxonomy":"book-publisher","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/book-publisher?post=14595"},{"taxonomy":"book-genre","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/book-genre?post=14595"},{"taxonomy":"book-source","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/book-source?post=14595"},{"taxonomy":"book-format","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastelgoth.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/book-format?post=14595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}