The Nanny

A Novel

By: Gilly Macmillan

Narrated by: Clare Corbett, Patience Tomlinson, Ben Eliot

Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

“Dark, twisty and full of characters you’ll love to hate, The Nanny is the perfect read for a chilly winter’s night.” (Ruth Ware, New York Times best-selling author)

“The Nanny kept me in white-knuckled suspense until the very last page. Gilly Macmillan’s breakout thriller is a dark and twisted version of Downton Abbey gone very, very wrong.” (Tess Gerritsen, New York Times best-selling author)

The New York Times best-selling author of What She Knew conjures a dark and unpredictable tale of family secrets that explores the lengths people will go to hurt one another.

When her beloved nanny, Hannah, left without a trace in the summer of 1988, seven-year-old Jocelyn Holt was devastated. Haunted by the loss, Jo grew up bitter and distant, and eventually left her parents and Lake Hall, their faded aristocratic home, behind.

Thirty years later, Jo returns to the house and is forced to confront her troubled relationship with her mother. But when human remains are accidentally uncovered in a lake on the estate, Jo begins to question everything she thought she knew. 

Then an unexpected visitor knocks on the door and Jo’s world is destroyed again. Desperate to piece together the gaping holes in her memory, Jo must uncover who her nanny really was, why she left, and if she can trust her own mother....

In this compulsively listenable tale of secrets, lies, and deception, Gilly Macmillan explores the darkest impulses and desires of the human heart. Diabolically clever, The Nanny reminds us that sometimes the truth hurts so much you’d rather hear the lie.

©2019 Gilly Macmillan (P)2019 HarperAudio

Great gripping story!

Great story, it had me fully enthralled which is a lot for me to say considering I go through at least 4 Psychological thrillers a week on audible! I don’t leave reviews often, but I loved this one! Ending was a tad abrupt, but GREAT book.

3.5 Stars!

This was a good thriller. It took a while to build and the pace was a little slow for me but I understand why. There was time needed to explain background and character development for the ending to make sense. Let’s be clear: most of these characters are a little narcissistic, depressed and maybe some have some sociopathy (I’m looking at you Nanny!). But somehow Gilly Macmillan had me feeling all sorts of sympathy for these characters. I appreciated Lake Hall and want to visit it even though it’s not real. I listened to this on Audible and further enforced that I think I can only listen to British narrators so send me those recs of British audible narrators and books cause I’m 100% here for it. Overall a good thriller but I needed a little more action!

You should listen!

After reading other reviews that the ending was abrupt and the characters annoying, I didn’t think I was going to enjoy this as much as I did. It is a wonderful story and a great listen. I enjoyed the narrators, they did a fantastic job portraying the characters. I don’t understand how anyone could think the ending was abrupt, there were many things leading up to the way it ended. I hate it when endings are dragged out, long after the climax of the story. Highly recommend for a good listen!

Predictable

About an hour into this book I knew I was not going to like it. It was very predictable and the main character Jo was not likable. I was glad when it was over and annoyed as it ended just as I thought it would.

Spectacular

I can’t express how much I loved this book! Everything about is great. Please give it a listen. I thinks it’s Gilly Macmillan’s best one yet

Boring

This book has been one of the biggest waste of time I have spent in a very long time. There is nothing about this book that I liked. I only finished it because I was reading it as part of a reading challenge.

Recommendation: Skip IT.

Twisted

Very well done. Very good. Intelligent. Story paints pictures in your had because it’s so well written. I like the narrative too

Great Story But Hated The Daughter

I loved the book once I got into it but I have to say that Jo is so unlikable I could not have any sympathy for her at all and kind of wanted the nanny to kill her off so Ruby could be happy with her Grandmother

Kept my interest

I think my favorite part of this book were the voice actors. At first I thought I wasn’t going to like them but they truly acted out the story very well throughout. Would recommend and read again.

I couldn't finish it

I don't know if it was the story, or the narration, or both, but I couldn't get into this book and just could not finish it. I definitely do not recommend