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Synopsis
More than four million readers fell in love with Nan, the smart, spirited, and sympathetic heroine of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Nanny Diaries.
After living abroad for twelve years, Nan and her husband, Ryan, aka H.H., have returned to New York to get her new business off the ground and fix up their fixer-upper. To compound the mounting construction woes and marital chaos of Ryan announcing his sudden desire to start a family, sixteen-year-old Grayer X makes a drunken, late-night visit wanting to know why Nan abandoned him all those years ago. Soon she is drawn back into Mrs. X's ever-bizarre Upper East Side conclave of power and privilege in this "eminently readable" and "surprisingly affecting" (Entertainment Weekly) tale of what happens when a community that chooses money over love finds itself with neither.
Publishers Weekly
Susan Bennett slips naturally into the role of Nan in this sequel to The Nanny Diaries. Nan, a former nanny, has been drawn back into the problematic life of her now teenage charge, Grayer, while simultaneously juggling a stressful job, a more stressful home renovation, and a faraway husband. Bennett perfectly conveys Nan’s determination to do everything right and fix everyone’s lives—and her consequent anxiety and guilt. Bennett creates a variety of believable characters from Hispanic maids to upper-class socialites, but some of her voices within the same category aren’t as clearly defined: for example, Mrs. X’s shallow socialite friends tend to blur together. Overall, however, Bennett’s narration is excellent: she draws the listener into the story, revealing the characters’ emotions and flaws and keeping the pacing brisk and entertaining. An Atria hardcover (Reviews, Oct. 5). (Dec.)