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Original Essays | April 30, 2013
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The Nanny Diariesby Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus
Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:Wanted:
One young woman to take care of four-year-old boy. Must be cheerful, enthusiastic and selfless-bordering on masochistic Must relish sixteen-hour shifts with a deliberately nap-deprived pre-schooler Must love getting thrown up on, literally and figuratively, by everyone in his family Must enjoy the delicious anticipation of ridiculously erratic pay Mostly, must love being treated like fungus found growing out of employers Hermes bag. Those who take it personally need not apply. Who wouldn't want this job? Struggling to graduate from NYU and afford her microscopic studio apartment, Nanny takes a position caring for the only son of the wealthy X family. She rapidly learns the insane amount of juggling involved to ensure that a Park Avenue wife who doesn't work, cook, clean, or raise her own child has a smooth day. When the Xs marriage begins to disintegrate, Nanny ends up involved way beyond the bounds of human decency or good taste. Her tenure with the X family becomes a nearly impossible mission to maintain the mental health of their four-year-old, her own integrity and, most importantly, her sense of humor. Over nine tense months Mrs. X and Nanny perform the age-old dance of decorum and power as they test the limits of modern-day servitude. The Nanny Diaries deftly skewers the manner in which America's over-privileged raise les petites over-privileged — as if grooming them for a Best in Show competition. Written by two former nannies, this alternately comic and poignant satire punctures the glamour of Manhattan's upper class. Review:"[D]iabolically funny....[The] heroine...is a vastly entertaining narrator and impromptu social critic....This book is saved from self-righteousness not only by the authors' cleverness but also by their compassion." Janet Maslin, The New York Times Book Review
Review:"[T]he details, devastating as they are, ring true, making this [book]...impossible to put down." Vogue
Review:"First-novelists and former nannies McLaughlin and Kraus get the details right: in acid asides, they limn the decor, trendy therapies, and the pretensions of social-climbing Manhattanites....Sometimes farcical, largely sincere — and ultimately trivial." Kirkus Reviews
Review:"[T]he wicked fascination of this novel lies in all the wacky tidbits about life in the social stratosphere....[V]ery funny..." New York Magazine
Review:"[S]harply observed and stylishly written." W
Review:"[T]he novel thoroughly skewers the privileged few, but beyond the satire, readers will care greatly for Nanny, poor Grayer, and even Mrs. X....Some minor characters need fleshing out and a subplot involving Nanny's romance with an Ivy League student is left dangling, but finally this is a fast-paced, witty, and thoroughly entertaining tale." Beth Warrell, Booklist
Review:"[A]n amusingly cutthroat novel....Some of these episodes are hilarious....And some are horribly sad....Looking through Nan's eyes into the lives of Manhattan's rich is a lot of fun — she's biting." Library Journal
Review:"[A] tart, lively, and genuinely openhearted debut....The Nanny Diaries is a sharply barbed comedy of manners....McLaughlin and Kraus are largely sympathetic to the children (who can't, after all, be blamed for the sins of their clueless parents), but they spare little mercy for monster moms and dads like Mr. and Mrs. X....[D]espite the fact that McLaughlin and Kraus have both worked as nannies, it's clear that The Nanny Diaries is a work of fiction. The characters are too broad and exaggerated and wincingly funny to be 100 percent true to life." Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com
Synopsis:WANTED: One young woman to take care of a four-year-old boy. Must be bordering on masochistic. Must relish sixteen-hour shifts with a nap-deprived pre-schooler. Must love getting thrown up on, literally and figuratively, by everyone in his family Mostly, must love being treated like fungus found growing out of employers Hermès bag. Those who take it personally need not apply.
Who wouldnt want this job?
Nanny is a struggling grad student with no visible piercings. Mrs. X, of Park Avenue, doesnt work, clean, cook, or raise her own child. She makes appointments and lists. Nanny needs a job. Mrs. X needs someone accommodating. Nanny and Mrs. X need each other. In return, Nanny is subjected to erratic shifts, irregular paychecks, and the sullen moods of her four-year-old charge. Sentenced to every play date known to Central Park, and every gourmet-snack run she can handle, Nanny needs a diversion that an afternoon martini cant fulfill. Then she discovers a secret about Mr. X. Navigating a marriage on the rocks and the increasingly paranoid, impossibly demanding attitude of her employer, Nanny is redefining servitude. Because now, Nanny has something worth more than Mrs. Xs ill-fitting Prada castoffs as a thankless bonus. Nannys acquiring the power of revenge…
“A national phenomenon.” —Newsweek
“[Nanny is] Mary Poppins channeling Dorothy Parker.”—Time About the AuthorNicola Kraus and Emma McLaughlin write together in New York City.
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