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Synopsis
"Fay Weldon offers an amusing send-up of modern relationships and child-rearing practices in this caustic novel about a middle-class London couple." Hattie, a literary agent, and lefty journalist Martyn have elected to partner rather than submit to official wedlock and become husband and wife. For their infant, Kitty, they hire a young, beautiful Polish au pair with a college degree in early childhood education. She brings a glorious, unprecedented order to their household and charms them with belly dancing and gourmet meals, allowing Hattie to return to work and the pair to enjoy real food and sex once in a while. It's Hattie's grandmother, Frances, however, who narrates, and she suspects that Agnieszka Wyszynska isn't quite what she seems. But Hattie and Martyn, weakened by their plum setup, will do anything to keep their live-in nanny, including pushing their relationship to the brink - and perhaps beyond.
Publishers Weekly
Wary '80s feminism observer Weldon (The Fat Woman's Joke) turns her sharp eye to the desperate neediness of two-career London parents seeking child care. Early 30-ish Hattie, a literary-rights agent, and lefty journalist Martyn are partners, rather than husband and wife. For their infant, Kitty, they procure competent young Pole Agnieszka Wyszynska who effects a glorious, unprecedented order in their household, thus allowing Hattie to return to work and the couple to enjoy real food and sex once in a while. It's Hattie's grandmother, Frances, however, who narrates, and Frances suspects Agnieszka isn't quite what she seems. If the au pair really is Ukrainian rather than Polish, she's not an EU cardholder and thus not legal to work. The solution of having Martyn marry Agnieszka makes Frances, who has emerged from the swinging '60s bearing her share of battle scars, raise her eyebrows. Weldon also adds great aunt Serena, a successful novelist, to the chorus; she has her own child-rearing, marriage and career stories. The results hit very close to the working literary family's bone. (June) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.