Frère Jacques, Frère Jacques,

Author : Leïla Slimani
Title : Lullaby
Published : 11/01/2018
Pages : 224
Genre : Mystery Thriller
Publisher : Faber & Faber

     When Myriam, a French-Moroccan lawyer, decides to return to work after having children, she and her husband look for the perfect caretaker for their two young children. They never dreamed they would find Louise: a quiet, polite and devoted woman who sings to their children, cleans the family's chic apartment in Paris's upscale tenth arrondissement, stays late without complaint and is able to host enviable birthday parties. The couple and nanny become more dependent on each other. But as jealousy, resentment and suspicions increase, Myriam and Paul's idyllic tableau is shattered...

     It was while I was at my local bookstore that I first came across this book. Sat on a table in the crime section was a whole stack of copies. Psychological thrillers I think always pull us in as more often than not they take place in a world that is very everyday and real to us. When it comes to our kids we are more often than not very careful about who we let into their lives. But at the end of the day how much do we know about the people we chose to call friends let alone those we in trust with the care of children when we are not around? 

     In Slimani 's novel, she takes a look at the most perfect nanny in almost every single way.  Louise comes across as the perfect person to care for your young ones, She is punctual and seems to be able to keep them entertained at any given moment. While in between her actual duties she cooks and cleans her bosses home.  The problem is, this is real life and Mary Poppins is just a character. As much a Louise's wants to do her best people have limitations and the more you push to try and form a perfect little bubble around yourself the more cracks will start to appear. 

     With Myriam and Paul, they think all their dreams have been answered when it comes to Louise. But when you come to rely on someone so much is there a point when you cross a line a don't even realize you took the step. For the most part, this couple seems to be so wrapped up in there careers that it feel like they forget they might just need to be there for there kids. I think for me it felt like they were in love with the idea of a family but only when it suits them. 

     For me, this was a curious book it is definitely a slower burner. It's like turning the key on an old clock you keep going and going even though you know at some point the spring inside will snap and the whole thing will be indelibly broken. It is not that any of these people are particularly bad taken out of the situation. It's just that in their reliance on each other and in living in such close proximity it starts to breed contempt and a greater entitlement than would be naturally found.  I think there should always be a point at which employer and employee need to have separation from each other. 

     All the while Louise is trying to be the best at her job she felt to me to be slightly detached. You do get to learn her backstory in flashback chapters but I could never entirely get a feel for her. In part, this may be down to the way the story is presented. To me, it always felt like I was on the outside looking in never being able to immerse myself in the story. But I suppose to some extent this is the point our heroine if that's what you can call her is herself an outsider in her own life. With the absence of anything outside of work, you spend your life around people who are not your friends and whose interest in you only goes as far as they are paying you. 

     Overall this is a creepy and unsettling story as much about alienation as it is about the bonds that hold a family together. As the plot unfurls it becomes all too apparent that it can end only one way.