Nanny 911

Just finished reading The Nanny Diaries (by Emma Kraus and Nicola McLaughlin) for our Mississippi Moms Book Club. I know, I know, I'm probably one of the last people in the world to read it. And now I know why. I tend not to like books in which characters just bitch and moan about their sad lot in life, but then do nothing to change what's bothering them. And that, my friends, is my problem with this book.

Nanny (and no, we are never told her real name) is a student at NYU. She nannies on the side to pay bills because the money is good and (get this) she's paid off the books. So, no supporting the ol' American government with her money. She gets a job keeping a sweet kid, Grayer, for the X family. (And no, we're never given a real name for them, either.)

What follows is the adventurous tale of her employment with the X family, the establishment of a close relationship with Grayer, the unreasonable expectations of Mrs. X, the indifference/absence of Mr. X, and then the complications that ensue as the X family begins to fall apart. The whole time, Nanny is allowing herself to be taken advantage of by Mr. and Mrs. X. The whole time, she is complaining (loudly) to her friends about her crappy job. She accepts less pay than originally discussed. She works crazy hours. She hates Mrs. X. And yet, she does nothing about it. She doesn't stand up to Mrs. X. She never gives her a piece of her mind. She never looks for another job. From one persepctive, this could mean that she's trying to protect Grayer and her relationship with him. (If she were to confront Mrs. X, she'd surely be fired.) But in another way, Nanny is just one of the many people who enables Mr. and Mrs. X to neglect their child.

I finished the novel almost as mad at Nanny as I was at the Xes. Kraus and McLaughlin seem determined to inspire sympathy for the Nanny character (and the book jacket lets us know that both of them have put in their time as professional nannies), but I left feeling very little for her. Grayer, however, was a different story. In my opinion, he was the only truly likable character, caught up in a world he had no control over and desperate for love and attention from his own parents.

I give it 2 1/1 stars out of 5.