Book Review – The Nanny by Gilly Macmillan #BookReview #BookBlogger #AmReading

by Shalini, posted in Book Reviews, Fiction

Gilly Macmillan is simply brilliant!! This was my first book by her, and I was completely entranced by her writing to the point I took my kindle everywhere with me. I loved her characters, each one was so different. Wickedness flowed in the veins of some, helplessness and blindness in others.

The emotions she evoked from me rushed through my being, simply twisting by insides in a knot of panic. I could see the insidious evil, yet I could do nothing to warn the daughter Jo about nanny Hannah who was looking after her daughter Ruby in her mother’s home The Holt Hall.

The story started with Jo and Ruby coming back to her mum’s place after the death of her husband. A human skull was found in the lake near The Holt Hall. That started the police investigation to dig into the past, which scared Jo’s mum to the core. It was presumed to be of nanny Hannah, but suddenly Hannah showed up at the doorstep. And the story rolled on. Whose skull was it? Who was lying, who was telling the truth? Who was evil, who was good?

Evil often came wearing the skin of the good, and this book proved it. So many times, I was simply so overwhelmed with the thrill in the story that I had to put my kindle down to take deep breaths and calm my heart. I wanted to tap the main character Jo’s shoulder to warn her. I wanted to shake her to make her see what was happening to her daughter Ruby.

There were layers of plots and complexities of human nature all embellished like the colors of an abstract painting, which appeared to be thrown at random, but had more rhythm and sequence to it than what could be seen by the human eye. Perceptions changed when the author wrote different chapters. Every word made me question, wonder what happened. I had a theory about the story, and I was so happy to be proved wrong.

This book was seriously bad for my heart as it kept my pulse soaring high.

I loved it!!

I received an ARC from NetGalley and publisher Random House Cornerstone, and this is my journey into its pages, straight from the heart!!

All my reviews can be found here

Gilly Macmillan is the New York Times bestselling and Edgar-nominated author of What She Knew, The Perfect Girl and Odd Child Out.

She grew up in Swindon and studied at Bristol University and The Courtauld Institute of Art in London. She has worked at The Burlington Magazine and the Hayward Gallery and has been a lecturer in photography.

She now writes full-time and lives in Bristol with her family.

Seven-year-old Jocelyn loves her nanny more than her own mother.
When her nanny disappears one night, Jo never gets over the loss.
How could she vanish without saying goodbye?

Thirty years on, Jo is forced to return to her family home and confront her troubled relationship with her mother. When human remains are discovered in the grounds of the house, Jo begins to question everything.

Then an unexpected visitor knocks at the door and Jo’s world is destroyed again as, one by one, she discovers her childhood memories aren’t what they seemed.

What secrets was her nanny hiding – and what was she running away from? And can Jo trust what her mother tells her?

Publication Date: 1st May 2019

Publisher: Cornerstone Digital

61 thoughts on “Book Review – The Nanny by Gilly Macmillan #BookReview #BookBlogger #AmReading”

  8. I absolutely loved your review, Shalini! It made me chuckle thinking of you snatching your kindle up and then putting it down to catch your breath, then snatching it up to read some more…hahaha! Now I have to check this out. It sounds amazing. 🙂 Have a great evening, my friend. 🙂

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