The Nanny Diaries - Hardcover

The Nanny Diaries is an absolutely addictive peek into the utterly weird world of child rearing in the upper reaches of Manhattan's social strata. Cowritten by two former nannies, Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus, the novel follows the adventures of the aptly named Nan as she negotiates the Byzantine byways of working for Mrs. X, a Park Avenue mommy. Nan's 4-year-old charge, the hilariously named Grayer (his pals include Josephina, Christabelle, Brandford, and Darwin) is a genuinely good sort. He can't help it if his mom has scheduled him for every activity known to the Upper East Side, including ice skating, French lessons, and a Mommy and Me group largely attended by nannies. What makes the book so impossible to put down is the suspense of finding out what the unbelievably inconsiderate Mrs. X will demand of Nan next. One pictures the two authors having the last hearty laugh on their former employers. --Claire Dederer

WANTED:
One young woman to take care of a four-year-old boy.
Must be bordering on masochistic.
Must relish sixteen-hour shifts with a nap-deprived pre-schooler.
Must love getting thrown up on, literally and figuratively, by everyone in his family
Mostly, must love being treated like fungus found growing out of employers Hermès bag.
Those who take it personally need not apply.

Who wouldn’t want this job?

Nanny is a struggling grad student with no visible piercings. Mrs. X, of Park Avenue, doesn’t work, clean, cook, or raise her own child. She makes appointments and lists. Nanny needs a job. Mrs. X needs someone accommodating. Nanny and Mrs. X need each other. In return, Nanny is subjected to erratic shifts, irregular paychecks, and the sullen moods of her four-year-old charge. Sentenced to every play date known to Central Park, and every gourmet-snack run she can handle, Nanny needs a diversion that an afternoon martini can’t fulfill. Then she discovers a secret about Mr. X. Navigating a marriage on the rocks and the increasingly paranoid, impossibly demanding attitude of her employer, Nanny is redefining servitude. Because now, Nanny has something worth more than Mrs. X’s ill-fitting Prada castoffs as a thankless bonus.
Nanny’s acquiring the power of revenge...

“A national phenomenon.”
—Newsweek

“[Nanny is] Mary Poppins channeling Dorothy Parker.”—Time