Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Nanny Returns (Nanny #2)

by Emma McLaughlin (Goodreads Author), Nicola Kraus (Goodreads Author)

2.84 of 5 stars 2.84 · rating details · 4,849 ratings · 794 reviews

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." Now she's back. After living abroad for twelve years, she and her husband, Ryan, aka H.H., have returned to New York to make a life for themselves. In the midst of getting her new business off the ground and fixing up...more

Hardcover, 305 pages

Published December 15th 2009 by Atria Books

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

Umbrellas

68th out of 116 books — 92 voters

AfterTastes and Tales from Russia by Jake Danishevsky

Best Books You Might Have Missed

39th out of 44 books — 27 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

May 08, 2012 Catherine rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: realistic-fiction, here-be-dragons, not-recommend

Too much language for my taste. Adult themes. I feel as though Ryan (Nan's husband) is underdeveloped. He is the perfect husband; he wants children ... that's all we really know about him. (view spoiler)...more

2 likes · like · see review

Feb 28, 2013 Chana Snyder rated it 2 of 5 stars

I read too quickly. And I haven't read 'The Nanny Diaries.' So I give the authors credit for writing an easy-entry sequel that anyone, not just fans of the first, can pick up. But...that's about it.

Not sure who it is, but somebody in the trifecta of storytelling here (Nan, as the narrator, or the two writers who put words in her mouth) likes to string words together like beads on a strand. As mentioned, I read quickly. And the whole super-long-beaded-necklace descriptive technique had me doing...more

like · see review

Aug 06, 2012 Kelly rated it 3 of 5 stars

It has been a few years since The Nanny Diaries first burst into the forefront. Not only did it become a #1 New York Times bestseller, but it was also made into a mediocre movie. It was only a matter of time before the media hounds would come begging for a sequel. Nanny Returns is a pretty good one, if not very far-fetched.

Nan (A.K.A. Nanny) Hutchinson has been living abroad with her husband for many years. They return to New York, having bought a fixer-upper. Nan tries to make a name for hersel...more

like · see review

Jul 04, 2012 Dorian rated it 1 of 5 stars

Like most people who read this book, I had high expectations before I began it. I thoroughly enjoyed The Nanny Diaries, I thought it was funny, and well-written. So, why would this be any different?
That said, this is possibly one of the worst books I've ever had the displeasure of reading. I was so very excited to see it on the shelves at my book store, I hadn't even known it existed! So, of course, I bought it, ready for hilarity to ensue.
I found myself skipping through pages, rolling my ey...more

2 likes · like · see review

Jun 12, 2012 Liviania rated it 4 of 5 stars

I adored THE NANNY DIARIES, once I finally read it. (In the interest of full disclosure, for years I thought it was a biography of Fran Drescher. While I loved The Nanny, I didn't particularly have the urge to read about the star.) It's exactly what satire should be: ruthless, yet hilarious. It skewed the rich and the way they treat the help, in a portrait that seemed at once over-the-top and authentic. NANNY RETURNS never quite reaches those heights, though I ultimately enjoyed the novel. The m...more I adored THE NANNY DIARIES, once I finally read it. (In the interest of full disclosure, for years I thought it was a biography of Fran Drescher. While I loved The Nanny, I didn't particularly have the urge to read about the star.) It's exactly what satire should be: ruthless, yet hilarious. It skewed the rich and the way they treat the help, in a portrait that seemed at once over-the-top and authentic. NANNY RETURNS never quite reaches those heights, though I ultimately enjoyed the novel. The main problem lies in the fact that 95% or so of the book is a major downer. (My mom agrees, in case you care.)

NANNY RETURNS begins twelve years after the events of THE NANNY DIARIES. Nan and her husband Ryan (the Harvard Hottie) have just moved back to New York, buying a run down building they hope to renovate and partially rent out. But soon Ryan has to return abroad for his job and the repairs keep going wrong.

And Grayer X, the boy Nan used to nanny, has tracked her down after finding her goodbye video eviserating his father and pleading with his parents to pay attention to him. His life isn't going so hot either. The Xes are divorcing, leading his mother to retreat into substance abuse. He needs to get his little brother Stilton into boarding school where he'll have supervision and care. Pretty soon, Nan is once more wrapped in the life of the Xes.

And then it gets worse. And worse. And while things end on a positive note . . . Nan's house still isn't habitable. A woman wronged by her employers is never heard from again. Children in trouble don't get the help they need. (Not even Grayer. He may manage to help Stilton out, but kid needs therapy.) Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus manage to keep their writing light and to inject humor into the proceedings, but they can't entirely disguise that they're grim proceedings indeed.

(It occurs to me that THE NANNY DIARIES works in almost the exact opposite way: things keep getting better and better until a hella depressing ending.) I could've easily hated this one if McLaughlin and Kraus's writing weren't so enjoyable, or if they didn't make Nan, Grayer, and several others so worth rooting for. But while fans of THE NANNY DIARIES will want to pick this up, it might not make the best Christmas gift. That is, unless you have someone you want to make cry. (Disclaimer on the crying: Monsters, Inc. made me cry. I'm easy.)
(less)

like · see review

Jun 06, 2012 Cindy rated it 3 of 5 stars

I loved The Nanny Diaries. I thought it was funny, sad and heartbreaking at times. My hopes for its sequel--finding Nan and Grayer 12 years after Nan's unceremonious exit from the X's employment--were not met. The story finds Nan back in NYC, married to Harvard Hottie, when Grayer, now 16 arrives drunken on her doorstep, wondering why she had left him all those years ago. Only it's not Grayer who needs the help so much, it's his baby brother Stilton, who his parents had in some attempt to save t...more

like · see review

Jul 30, 2011 Rebecca rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: chicklit

I am glutton for punishment. As part of my non-attainable goal to read every book ever, I tend to lean towards authors whom I have read before, weather I liked the book or not. I mean, if the book was so painful, I wanted to watch any reality tv over reading it, I won't pick up anything else, but even if I thought the book was totally annoying, I'll pick up more. And this was one of them. I don't know when I put this book down on my request list. Must have been a while back. And I actually just...more

1 like · like · see review

Mar 30, 2011 Sarah rated it 3 of 5 stars

I was handed The Nanny Diaries as a gift when I was leaving to go be an au pair in Europe and I thoroughly enjoyed it. This story, the sequel, was not as good as the first, but it did uncannily pertain to my life at the present time again. The story tells of Nan fearing her former employer, and then getting so intricately thrown into their lives that she ends up having to take care of the boys herself. She is having problems with her husband because he is ready to have children, and she is worki...more

like · see review

Jan 02, 2011 Wendi rated it 5 of 5 stars

Thank God for a follow up. I've always worried about Grayer X. I knew that Nanny (Nan-neh!) would land on her feet, but Grayer...I always wondered what would happen to him.

If you liked "The Nanny Diaries" I do believe you will like this sequel (the ladies are even talking trilogy!!) We find Nanny's socialite nemesies struggling against the economy - what do you mean I can't have my Prada and my driver too? - and Nanny struggling with possible motherhood.

I felt like the book brought up a lot of...more

3 likes · like · see review

Dec 20, 2010 Tonya rated it 3 of 5 stars

This follow-up to the Nanny Diaries has the same wit and humor as the first but not as much of it and if you ask me is darker than the first book. In this book, the neglect of Grayer and his brother Stilton has hit a new high and unlike the first novel results in a child getting physically hurt. I think what also makes this book darker than the previous one is that Grayer is no longer a bratty, hurt, and confused four-year-old, but a cynical teenager experimenting with alcohol and sex. Nanny is...more

like · see review

Oct 17, 2010 Chris rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010

I listened to the first Nanny novel as an audiobook many moons ago when I was working as a painter in college. Our local library had a paltry selection of audiobooks and I couldn't afford to be picky. I thought I would hate The Nanny Diaries, but instead I found myself enjoying the book. When I heard the authors had penned a sequel, I was curious enough to get the audiobook of Nanny Returns for my commute.

At some points, I felt like Nanny Returns actively hated me and was trying to physically h...more I listened to the first Nanny novel as an audiobook many moons ago when I was working as a painter in college. Our local library had a paltry selection of audiobooks and I couldn't afford to be picky. I thought I would hate The Nanny Diaries, but instead I found myself enjoying the book. When I heard the authors had penned a sequel, I was curious enough to get the audiobook of Nanny Returns for my commute.

At some points, I felt like Nanny Returns actively hated me and was trying to physically hurt me, that's how bad I thought it was.

At the core of The Nanny Diaries was a resentment toward the non-parenting of the Upper West Side snobs of New York City. That drove the book, with the hook of having the titular Nanny function as a "fish out of water" in that scenario, seemingly the only person who cared for her employers' child. I honestly don't know what the reason for writing Nanny Returns was, besides "Hey, that first Nanny book made some money and we got a movie out of it... how about a sequel?"

The book flails around for a point, introducing plot after plot after plot (Nan's qualms about starting a family, her new job, reintergrating herself into the X's life, calamities at the private schools of the wealthy, and yes, disdain for the richie rich parents of New York City) with almost no followthrough. The main character alternates between whiny and callow, displaying none of the backbone I expected from the ending of the first Nanny novel.

Dialog between the characters is infuriatingly choppy; people break away from delivering vital information to one another by stopping mid-conversation and saying something like "I can't deal with you right now," or "Hold on a sec." The only purpose for this is to prolong "funny" confusion on the part of the main character. It's stilted and annoying. Nan will keep things from other characters (like the key piece of information that she was fired from her nanny position) and then spend dozens of pages sweating and angsting over a problem that could likely be address if she'd just SAY WHAT WAS ON HER MIND.

The overwrought descriptions of fashion slow the narrative down to a crawl at places. I guess this is "chick-lit", a genre that I know doesn't always aspire toward highbrow literature, but goodness, I never realized that anyone would care to read a blow-by-blow of what every character in a room was wearing from top to tail.

Even the jokey premise behind Nan's foils, the elder X matriarch and patriarch, seems lame now. The joke in the first novel was that Nan was maintaining their anonymity by calling them the X's. Here, the authors expand the X's out so far into the world that it seems incredibly stupid to keep up the charade. We know EVERYBODY else's name in this book. It's silly.

Again, I can actually recommend The Nanny Diaries, a book with some genuine anger expressed through a oftentimes funny story told with warmth. Nanny Returns was just repulsive.(less)

5 likes · like · see review

Oct 12, 2010 Sara rated it 3 of 5 stars

Having never read the first book in this series, The Nanny Diaries, I was able to start The Nanny Returns with a little bit of perspective. As does, Nan, our former Nanny protagonist, who has recently gotten her man (she is a newlywed), her masters, and returned to New York to renovate a dilapidated house. Though she's struggling to launch her consulting business, she can't help but become all tangled up with her former charge, Grayer and his younger brother, Stilton, and the horrific Mr. and Mr...more

like · see review

Oct 09, 2010 Jessica Lawlor rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2010

I was super excited to read Nanny Returns because I absolutely loved The Nanny Diaries (see my review here). I was shocked and surprised when I found myself skipping through pages and shaking my head while reading this one…more on that in a bit.

Nanny Returns tells the story of Nan, our favorite NYC Nanny 10 years later. Now married to Harvard Hottie Ryan, Nan returns from traveling the world with her husband to settle back into NYC.

One night, a 16 year old Grayer (Nan’s former charge) drunkenly...more

2 likes · like · see review

Sep 13, 2010 Julie rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: chick-lit

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

1 like · like · see review

Jul 26, 2010 Agatha rated it 2 of 5 stars

Light-hearted sequel to The Nanny Diaries. This book got horrible reviews on Amazon so I went in not really expecting very much and then was pleased with what I found. Shrug, who knew?!?  People said it had too many plots; I found it more compelling and multi-layered than the typical, predictable "chick lit." People said that Nan had not "grown" in the intermittent 12 years; I thought she was more mature, but obviously the same person, and heck, what do you expect? This genre is not brain surge...more

like · see review

Mar 24, 2010 Liz rated it 3 of 5 stars

I read The Nanny when it first came out and was both horrified and fascinated by the stories of the upper class. The story continues in this book. Nanny married her Harvard Hottie and has spent the last twelve years traveling around the world with him while he works with the U.N. Now she's back in NYC trying to get work as a human resources consultant.

She's abruptly thrown back into the Xs lives when Grayer, her former charge, comes to her door in the middle of the night completely drunk. He's t...more

1 like · like · see review

Feb 13, 2010 Mallory rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: massochists and people who like a good trash book

I'm embarrassed that I read this book and even more embarrassed that I sort of liked it.

The premise: Nan and Ryan (better known as HH to those who read the prequel) are married and have recently moved back to NY after years spent abroad working with the UN. Because this is a McLaughlin and Krauss confection, the main characters are born of privilege but have chosen to slum it by buying a Harlem brownstone that is in serious need of renovation. This is always my complaint with McLaughlin/Krauss b...more I'm embarrassed that I read this book and even more embarrassed that I sort of liked it.

The premise: Nan and Ryan (better known as HH to those who read the prequel) are married and have recently moved back to NY after years spent abroad working with the UN. Because this is a McLaughlin and Krauss confection, the main characters are born of privilege but have chosen to slum it by buying a Harlem brownstone that is in serious need of renovation. This is always my complaint with McLaughlin/Krauss books... the leading ladies are always like "Oh, poor me, I live in a dump" but then 20 pages later their characters' parents are all like "La-di-da, I own an apartment on Park Avenue and another in East Hampton, let's do shopping at Bergdorfs, of dear, I wish you would quit that miserable job."

But OK, I can suspend disbelief. Anyway, Nan isn't sure she wants a baby, even though she just bought a multi-bedroom home and her husband (who is absent for 85% of the book because he has to travel for work, so I don't know where he gets off with this nonsense anyway) is pushing her to conceive. If this premise wasn't annoying enough, a 16-year-old Grayer shows up on Nanny's doorstep (he found her in the phone book roughly 5 minutes after she moved back?!) drunk and demanding to know why she abandoned him when he was a little boy.

Get over it, kid. She was your NANNY. It's a JOB. I'm sorry your parents are assholes, but it's not your former Nanny's fault.

But again, this being a McKrauss book, it doesn't have to make sense. Grayer has a young brother now and needs Nanny's help pretending to be their mother so the kid can get into boarding school. And. She. Does. It. In fact, she's basically at Grayer's beck and call throughout the whole book. Homegirl needs to learn to say NO.

Meanwhile, Nanny (who, if you remember, always wanted to teach) gets a job consulting at a private school where Grayer and other recycled characters from the first book attend high school. The children are--guess what?--pampered and overindulged while their rich parents are--surprise!--pampered, overindulged and horribly mean.

And you know the weirdest part? I couldn't put this book down and I had a good time reading it. It's predictable, cheesy, lame and a generally mediocre follow up to a mildly engaging chick-lit book by less-than-proficient writers who are trying to get some extra mileage out of their one good idea. But it's also really, really, really, really fun. I enjoyed recognizing old characters and seeing how ten years had changed them (or not). The plot was lame, but engaging in that "how the other half lives" sort of way. And even though Nanny is a generally unlikable main character, I was perfectly happy to invest another 4-500 pages in hoping that she'll learn how to establish boundaries with her rich family, friends, employers and now, former employers/charge.

I like reality TV and I like this book for the same reason; sometimes you don't want to think too hard. For days like that, this is actually not a terrible choice.(less)

10 likes · like · see review

Feb 09, 2010 NCPL Teenzone rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: realistic, adult

Once upon a time, Nan worked for the Xes and cared for their son, Grayer. After being fired, she ranted her frustrations to the teddy bear nanny-cam. Fast forward twelve years. Nan has married the Harvard Hottie and after living in third world countries, they have returned to NYC in pursuit of the American dream. Home ownership isn't all it's cracked up to be, especially when renovations don't happen according to schedule and living conditions are worse than in aforementioned countries. But the...more

1 like · like · see review

Feb 03, 2010 Carla Ford rated it 4 of 5 stars

Whew - it was a busy month for Nan, and I was exhausted just reading about it. Although I didn't read THE NANNY DIARIES, there was enough tie-in with this book that I didn't feel lost, and was able to pick follow the story without feeling like there were any gaps. Returning to New York after twelve years out of the country, Nan and her husband Ryan are remodeling their new home, and Nan is trying to get her new business off the ground. Just as Ryan announces that he thinks they should start a fa...more

1 like · like · see review

Jan 09, 2010 Heather rated it 2 of 5 stars

I saw that the newest Nanny book was out, so I picked it up at the library. Thank goodness I didn't spend money on it!
This book is a disappointment in many ways:
Marriage and family: Nan got married and seemed to enjoy her time with HH as they lived in various parts of the world. She has parents who are still married to one another and seem happy; she has a grandmother she still talks to, etc. Why does she let such idiotic snot former employers make her second-guess the whole idea of having a chi...more

1 like · like · see review

Jan 02, 2010 Karetchko rated it 2 of 5 stars

I hadn't realized that there was a new book out by the authors of the Nanny Diaries. I've read their other books (Citizen Girl and Dedication) but don't really remember anything about either book. Nanny Diaries was pretty memorable, though (especially the bit with the lavender water!) so I wanted to read this one after I kept seeing it in all of the airports. Luckily my library had it...it would not be worth purchasing, though it's an entertaining read.

As the story begins, Nan and her husband h...more

1 like · like · see review

Dec 28, 2009 Amy rated it 2 of 5 stars

While I was visiting New York I thought this would be a good time to pick up "Nanny Returns." It was compulsively readable in a travel-book way, once I accepted the fact that this was not going to be high literature, which was evident from the first page.

McLaughlin and Kraus have a flair for the over-the-top ridiculousness of rich Manhattanites. Their hijinks-of-the-rich-and-famous situations resonate all the way back to The Bonfire of the Vanities. Their version of a high school sext does go w...more

like · see review

Dec 14, 2009 Cheryl rated it 3 of 5 stars

Everyone’s favorite nanny is back. Nanny Nan and her husband, Ryan have returned to the Big Apple. They have a lot of work ahead of them with many renovations and many improvements to their home. Nan is hoping to get a job soon. Opportunity appears at her door in the form of her former charge…Grayer.

He is all grown up now. Grayer. Grayer dislikes Nan for leaving him and his brother. He believes she is just like all the rest of the prior nannies. But can Grayer forgive Nan when he learns the tru...more

like · see review

Feb 04, 2013 Lori rated it 3 of 5 stars

3 1/2* Agreeably this should not happen. No parents should just desert their children to someone they haven't seen in 12 years just because they have their own issues. However in the event that they do thank goodness it was to someone like Nan.
She has the worst luck in the world and it almost get ridiculous when Nan's husband leaves on extended work trips, her house is being remodeled and becomes inhabitable, both of the X's kids parents are MIA leaving Nan to find herself and the kids a place...more

like · see review

Feb 10, 2011 Brittany rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Fans of the authors, not The Nanny Diaries

Shelves: girly-books, new-york-city, socialites, fiction, slice-of-life

How I Came To Read This Book: I snagged it from my boyfriend’s prizing cupboard at work.

The Plot: It’s been twelve years since Nanny (of The Nanny Diaries abandoned her charge Grayer and fled New York City on the wings of her Harvard Hottie (now husband) Ryan. We meet Nan as she’s trying to get her employee relations consulting business off the ground, renovating a massive fixer-upper in Harlem, and uneasily avoiding the likes of the X family she used to work for…a task made complicated by the r...more How I Came To Read This Book: I snagged it from my boyfriend’s prizing cupboard at work.

The Plot: It’s been twelve years since Nanny (of The Nanny Diaries abandoned her charge Grayer and fled New York City on the wings of her Harvard Hottie (now husband) Ryan. We meet Nan as she’s trying to get her employee relations consulting business off the ground, renovating a massive fixer-upper in Harlem, and uneasily avoiding the likes of the X family she used to work for…a task made complicated by the reappearance of Grayer, now sixteen and looking out for his little brother Stilton while Daddy X runs off with a movie star and Mrs. X goes off the deep end. Out of guilt, Nan tries to intervene in the boys’ chaotic life as she weaves her way in and out of the upper class set she still loathes, yet is reluctantly tied to, on the cusp of the 2008 financial bust.

The Good & The Bad: I’ll say this for the authors…they have a quite distinct lens and writing style, the former of which I enjoy, the latter of which I don’t. If anything, this book felt like it could have been a sequel to Citizen Girl as much as it did to The Nanny Diaries.

The focus really isn’t about nannying whatsoever, but is really a scathing look at overexcess in America and the trickle-down effect in other’s lives. The only ties between the two books are the characters, but given the generic everywoman persona of Nan, that’s not much to hang your hat on. Realistically, the authors could have written a book just as interesting, if not moreso, had they NOT tied it to The Nanny Diaries – but for buzz and interest purposes I reluctantly understand why they went the route they did.

There are glimmers of hope in the writing as they drop tension-building hints and issues that you hope will potboil into something sensational…unfortunately that never quite happens because the book is so widespread and far-flung and unfocused, both in terms of plot, and in terms of the actual style. I find the authors’ prose to be really dense and confusing sometimes, and for a chick lit book I really shouldn’t have to be rereading pages to understand what the hell just transpired.

I like the idea of crafting fiction that feels like real life – primarily in its randomness – but I can’t say that it’s a good thing to walk away from a book going – okay, so why did I read this again?
I enjoyed the fast pace of things and looked forward to my next sitting, but the whole time I just knew the book wasn’t going to go somewhere…and sure enough, it didn’t. Consider this duo officially off of my list of ‘authors I read’, although it wasn’t terrible for a freebie.

The Bottom Line: Not a nanny sequel whatsoever, but if you enjoy the lens the authors use in their other books you probably won’t mind this one. Just don’t get your hopes up.

Anything Memorable?: Nope.

50-Book Challenge?: Book #6 in 2011
(less)

like · see review

Jul 31, 2012 Joyce rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 50-books-challenge-2012

We all remember Nanny from the succesful novel "The Nanny Diaries". I really loved that book and was really looking forward to reading its sequel. Now, twelve years later, Nan is back, married and again she has to deal with the X's. It started out really good, I liked reading about how Nanny turned out and about her life with her husband Ryan. Later it was just another story, that really didn't go anywhere. I missed the clear writing style with quick-moving dialogue that was so present in the fi...more

like · see review

Mar 16, 2010 Kiersten rated it 1 of 5 stars

There is WAY too much going on in this book, and as a result, I didn't really care about any of it. The main plot lines in the story [seem:] to be the Xs and Nan's position with a consultant for Jarndyce, an exclusive private school run by an absolutely toxic parental board, which puts the Xs' exploits from the first book to shame. Oh, and Nan having a baby. That's supposed to be one of the main parts of the story, but it's completely overshadowed by everything else going on. Anyway, while worki...more

1 like · like · see review

Jan 21, 2010 Sarah rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: those who read and enjoyed "The Nanny Diaries"

Recommended to Sarah by: People Magazine

This was definitely much more dysfunctional than "Nanny Diaries." I liked the book... it was good to get some closure on Nan's relationship w/ the X's, but I would definitely say there was no "happy every after" here.

About 1/3 of the way through the book, I had to pause and re-group. I don't have a problem w/ character builders. If a character is different ideologically from me, I don't run, I just know that these are things that build the type of person/relationship/events that I am reading abo...more

like · see review

Jan 19, 2010 Michael rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2010

Every once in a while I like to move outside of "comfort zone" of reading and pick up a book I've heard a lot about but wouldn't ordinarily read. That happened a few years ago when I heard a lot of buzz about "The Nanny Diaries" and, on impulse, picked up the audio version at my local library. At the time, I found the novel fairly interesting with some fascinating observations and some humorous and touching moments. It wasn't going to make my list of all time favorite books, but I didn't mind th...more Every once in a while I like to move outside of "comfort zone" of reading and pick up a book I've heard a lot about but wouldn't ordinarily read. That happened a few years ago when I heard a lot of buzz about "The Nanny Diaries" and, on impulse, picked up the audio version at my local library. At the time, I found the novel fairly interesting with some fascinating observations and some humorous and touching moments. It wasn't going to make my list of all time favorite books, but I didn't mind the couple of hours I spent listening to it.

So, when I heard the authors were planning to revisit the world of "The Nanny Diaries" with events having moved on ten years, I have to admit part of me was a bit curious to see where things would be ten years later. So, I put the sequel on reserve at the library and prepared myself for the funny glances I'd get when it came to check it out.

It's ten years later and Nan is back, married to HH from the first novel. She and hubby have been traveling around the world for the past several years, but have just bought a major fixer-upper in New York where they hope to settle and possibly start a family of their own. Early on, Nan and HH have very different timeframes in which they'd like this to happen. Nan and HH go back to the old building where they met for a walk through on HH's parent's old apartment. Nan finds memories of her time when the X's flooding back and she takes great pains to avoid any path crossing with them.

That is until Grayer shows up on her doorstep a few days later, drunk as a skunk and angry with Nan for abandoning him. Grayer also has some issues with the Xs divorce.

All of these things should have made for an interesting follow-up to the original. Unfortunately, what worked about the original never really materializes here and the "Nanny Returns" ends up feeling more like an obligatory sequel than a necessary one. It's almost as if the authors had a check-list of items they wanted to revisit and the novel slowly works their way through them. (less)

like · see review

Dec 31, 2009 Sarah BT rated it 2 of 5 stars

I first read The Nanny Diaries three years ago when I myself was working as a nanny. Granted, I wasn't working for an elite, rich family in New York, but I still found the book to be a wickedly funny account of the nannying world and I really enjoyed it. So I was looking forward to returning to Nan's story, but sadly I was disappointed with this sequel.

After twelve years, getting married, and living all over the world with her husband, Nan has not grown up. She still has no spine and doesn't k...more

1 like · like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 99 100 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend it | Stats | Recent status updates

combine
Other Editions (19)

More editions...

Videos About This Book

Add a comment

Genres

Womens Fiction > Chick Lit

175 users

Adult

18 users

Adult Fiction

14 users

Contemporary

9 users

Romance

8 users

Novels

6 users

Humor

5 users

Realistic Fiction

5 users

Book Club

3 users

Modern

2 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Emma McLaughlin

My partner, Nicki, and I have been writing together for 12 years. We're obsessed by what makes a satisfying story. I'm excited to hear from our readers what does it for them -- and what doesn't. As a working mom, the only book time I manage to steal these days is right before bed. I'm not the girl who can watch SVU and go to sleep with a smile. Ruling out kids/the economy/the world in peril as sub...more

More about Emma McLaughlin...

Books by Emma McLaughlin

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About Nanny Returns

14 trivia questions

More quizzes & trivia...

Quotes from Nanny Returns

“Being back here—I'm suddenly confronting the enormity of that kind of commitment. And just how much you can fuck someone up if you half-ass it.” — 2 people liked it

“Why can't everything be as easy as walking into H&M and putting a week's worth of clothes on a credit card?” — 1 person liked it

More quotes…

title link	preview: Nanny Returns
avg rating	preview: Nanny Returns Goodreads rating: 2.84 (4849 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6487537-nanny-returns?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348383354l/6487537.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6487537-nanny-returns?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Nanny Returns by Emma McLaughlin[/url]

Nanny Returns (Nanny #2)

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website