The Nanny - Gilly MacMillan

WOW! (translation - 5 STARS!!!)

ABOUT THE BOOK - 

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 readable 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.

Purchase Links

HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

ABOUT THE AUTHOR -
Gilly Macmillan is the Edgar nominated and New York Times bestselling author of What She Knew, The Perfect Girl, Odd Child Out, I Know You Know, and The Nanny. She grew up in Swindon, Wiltshire and lived in Northern California in her late teens. She worked at The Burlington Magazine and the Hayward Gallery before starting a family. Since then she's worked as a part-time lecturer in photography, and now writes full-time. She resides in Bristol, England.

Find out more about Gilly at her website, and connect with her on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

MY THOUGHTS -
Not able to put this book down! Seriously, I tried several times and just kept picking it back up. I finally succumbed and just ended up reading all day for 2 days straight (well, when I wasn't at work).
One of the best books I have read in a long while.

Character development - Perfection! I was so intertwined with this family! I loved Jo (Jocelyn) and her daughter Ruby. They were both great. And even though Jo was far too trusting of everyone except her mother AND let the wool be pulled over her eyes - I still loved her.
Jo's mom - Virginia was another story. I started out hating her, then warmed up to her, then started to see her side of things and felt sorry for her! "The Nanny" - Hannah wow!, what a piece of work. Of course you don't know that in the beginning but very quickly learn that she is not at all what she seems.

Also this had one of my very favorite features - being told from three different POV - Jo's, Virginia, and Hannah. I love this in a book because you get a better picture of what's going on in each person's life and in their heads. Each one is labeled very well so there is no confusion. There are also flashbacks, and those are labeled as well.

Crazy spider web of suspense! Just so intense. You will not even want to go to bed until you finish it. I had the chance to read and review "What She Knew" and I couldn't do it. Boy, now I really want to read it!


I voluntarily posted this review after receiving a copy of this book from TLC Book Tours -  Thank You!!