The story instantly whips you up into hyper awareness with the way that it starts, announcing the tragic ending on the first couple of pages. The fact that it still makes you want to read on and understand the whole story, is definitely a sign of great writing!

The style was simply impeccable, simple, yet still feeling special, with morbid details thrown into the storytelling. With situations that somehow make you feel uncomfortable, even though you can’t pin it down of why exactly, sensing very early on how there is something that is off with the main character of the nanny. The topic of parents raising their children while choosing between keeping their own private lives and professional success or delegating this task to external help is portrayed beautifully, making it interesting even to those readers, who wouldn’t necessarily be able to relate.

Having picked this book up due to the fact that it was a winner of the 2016 Goncourt prize, I think that it was an absolutely justified choice! It’s gripping, making you want to read it until the very end without stopping, the characters are portrayed in a very relatable way and you can easily transport yourself into the middle of the described scenes with the highly descriptive and visual language. It has been an absolute pleasure reading and it deserves the full rating of 5/5 ⭐!

On a side note, I have watched the movie which was based on the book right before reading it and even that didn’t mess with the pleasure of going through the book afterwards! The book gives you more of an insight into the nanny’s and the nanny’s daughter’s life, which is missing in the movie, so they are actually complementary to each other. Both the book and the movie are an absolute suggestion!!!!

★★★★★ (5/5)