Publication date: January 9 2018
Published by: Penguin
Genre: Adult, Contemporary, Violence, Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Crime
Rating:
When Myriam decides to return to work as a lawyer after having children, she and her husband look for the perfect nanny for their son and daughter. They never dreamed they would find Louise: a quiet, polite, devoted woman who sings to the children, cleans the family’s chic Paris apartment, stays late without complaint, and hosts enviable kiddie parties. But as the couple and the nanny become more dependent on one another, jealousy, resentment, and suspicions mount, shattering the idyllic tableau.Let's get something very clear: The Perfect Nanny - or Lullaby as is the Australian title, which I personally prefer - is NOT a Gone Girl kind of book. It is falsely advertised as such, and I guess that is also the reason for its bad ratings.
There is no mystery the reader needs to solve, no unexpected twists, no wow moment in the end. They are simply unnecessary.
Lullaby is about a mentally unstable nanny who murders two children.
Why should you care?
The writing and the characters, that's why. Because *gasp* sometimes it's all about that.
I was obsessed with the portrayal of Louise (the nanny). I think Slimani did such an amazing job describing every aspect of Louise's soul and turning the impression I initially had of her on its head, which was eventually the big twist in the book.
In the beginning you think Louise is this poor, down-on-her-luck, lonely woman, previously married to an awful man and with a difficult, runaway daughter, and who was driven to commit this horrendous crime because of a very hard life and previous bad experiences.
As the book progresses however, and Louise's desolation grows, it becomes more and more apparent that she always was this disturbed, sick and secretly violent woman, and I will honestly admit that I was terrified of her. I mean, who can forget the chicken carcass scene? 😨
Even though her physical appearance is frequently described, to me Louise was always this mirage, this malevolent, evil spirit, wreaking havoc in Paris. There is a scene towards the end when Myriam is in the car, sees Louise across the street and looks at her in a similar way, like seeing her for the first time and realising her true self.
Also, even in Louise's scenes away from the parents and kids, she is described as "the nanny", which I found very interesting, like she didn't have any other identity apart from that.
Slimani did the same awesome job portraying Myriam: book starts with her admitting how much she hates what she's become and her life as a stay-at home-mom. She is extremely bitter towards her husband who got to keep his job and she longs for a life outside of her family, a big career. As soon as she finds Louise, who is considered by all the perfect nanny, cook and cleaner, she does a complete 180, her life suddenly becoming brighter and easier. She and her husband thrive at their jobs, they get reconnected and they become overall happier. All because of Louise.
A lot talk about an unsatisfying ending, but I completely disagree. I see no reason behind explicit murder scenes, explained in ridiculous detail.
We know what happened, we find out on page 1. Louise, Myriam and Paul-they were gory and horrid enough for me.
As for why Louise did it - if you don't know by the end, you're probably not reading it right 😳
I want to say so much about Lullaby, but I don't want to spoil it for you guys. I wish I could read it as it was originally written in French, because there is always a minor disconnect in english translated books and this one was no exception.
Lullaby is an exceptionally written, highly addictive, intense and disturbing book that I would definitely still think about for days to come.
Read it.
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