There have been so many exciting and intriguing thrillers released in 2021, and this debut by Flora Collins is a wild way to end the year.
Nanny Dearest is a November 2021 release by MIRA Publishing
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book, all opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links, see disclosures for more detail.
About the Book
Compulsively readable domestic suspense, perfect for fans of THE TURN OF THE KEY and THE PERFECT NANNY, about a woman who takes comfort in reconnecting with her childhood nanny after her father’s death, until she starts to uncover dark secrets the nanny has been holding for twenty years.
Set in New York city and upstate New York, NANNY DEAREST is the story of twenty-five year-old Sue Keller, a young woman reeling from the recent death of her father, a particularly painful loss given that Sue’s mother died of cancer when she was only three. At just this moment of vulnerability comes Anneliese Whitaker, Sue’s former nanny from her childhood days in upstate New York.
Sue, craving connection and mothering, is only too eager to welcome Annie back into her life; but as they become inseparable once again, Sue begins to uncover the truth about Annie’s unsettling time in the Keller house all those years ago, particularly the manner of her departure – or dismissal. At the same time, she begins to grow increasingly alarmed for the safety of the two new charges currently in Annie’s care.
Told in alternating points of views, switching between Annie in the mid-90s and Sue in the present day, this is a taut novel of suspense with a shocking ending.
My Thoughts
I gave this book 2.5 stars
Soooo
This one is a very, very slow starter. It features two timelines, one from the 1990s where Anneliese is Suzy’s nanny, and one from the present day where the two of them reconnect. There are hints that this book isn’t as straightforward as it seems, but it isn’t until probably 60% into the book that things actually start to come together into a semblance of a suspenseful thriller.
At 80% I pretty much knew where everything was going, but I was still interested enough to finish. And when I finished I was shaking my head saying “what on earth did I just read?”
I had quite a few problems with this book, one main one is that I didn’t like any of the characters. I thought they were all either mentally ill or narcissistic or sociopaths, and none of them believed that anyone else had their best interests at heart. For a bit I thought that Sue/Suzy was pulling herself together, but she kept going off on weird tangents of violence and bizarre behavior. I wish that the narrative had been a bit more straightforward, because the core story here isn’t too bad, but I kept getting distracted by strange behavior. Like why would Sue believe this stranger over her best friends? Every page it seemed like she was getting drunk and passing out or falling asleep at Anneliese’s apartment, taking her clothes off for some odd reason. For a while I thought there was something sexual going on between Sue and Anneliese, but that didn’t seem to be what was happening so it made it all the more bizarre.
Warning: Yet another book with a poor kitty getting abused and killed. You’d think authors would learn by now. Leave the animal abuse out of the book, it’s not necessary to use it in order to make a character into a villain. We get it anyway.
That said, if you can get past the first half of incredibly slow build up, the second half is much faster paced and has some surprises. This is Flora Collins’s debut novel, and I do see promise in her writing and look forward to seeing what she can come up with next.
About the Author
Flora Collins was born and raised in New York City and has never left, except for a four-year stint at Vassar College. When she’s not writing, she can be found watching reality shows that were canceled after one season or attempting to eat soft-serve ice cream in bed (sometimes simultaneously). Nanny Dearest is her first novel, and draws upon personal experiences from her own family history.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/flococo16?lang=en
Instagram: @floracollins_author
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/56472992-nanny-dearest
