What is it about being a nanny? Lately it's all the rage - at least as far as popular fiction is concerned. A year ago we had The Nanny Diaries by Nicola Kraus and Emma McLaughlin (Penguin, 6.99). Just out is Close to Home by Eileen MacDonald (Simon & Schuster UK, 10.99), a nanny-from-hell thriller. And Melissa Nathan's hilarious new novel The Nanny (Arrow, Pounds 5.99) has now spent more than two weeks in the Sunday Times bestseller list.
So what drew Melissa to the subject? A journalist with two novels already behind her, she says her nieces and nephews provided the initial inspiration for the book. 'Children are so fascinating,' says Melissa.
'They are direct and honest - there's so much you can turn into a funny book.'
Although she hasn't worked with children herself, Melissa was meticulous in her research for the book. As well as talking to nannies and mothers, she spent a lot of time shadowing local nannies to find out first-hand exactly what the work entails. And the results certainly show.
The story is a rich tapestry woven from the intricate threads of the characters' lives. In fact, the plot unfolds at such a pace that Melissa had to stick colour-coded index cards on her wall, just to keep track of where everyone was, and make sure they arrived back in the story at the right time and place.
The novel opens with Jo, the heroine, leaving behind the sleepy village of Niblet-upon-Avon to take up a post as a nanny in north London's trendy Highgate. Her new employers' house may have an entrance hall the size of a living room and a pair of cats named after a French playwright and a fashionable brand of champagne - Molly and Bolly (Moliere and Bollinger, get it?). But it's the couple's ascerbic relationship that proves the biggest culture shock for Jo.
Far from trying to impress her at the initial interview, Dick and Vanessa fire verbal arrows at each other as if their life depended on it. When Vanessa openly insults him, Dick shoots straight from the hip. 'Don't pick a fight in front of the staff, dear, it might make you look uptight. We don't want them all leaving as quickly as Francesca, do we?' 'Well, at least I HAVE staff,' she replies acidly, referring to Dick's ailing career.
But as we get to know them better, the exchanges are so witty, and their individual stories so poignant, we end up feeling compassion for both parents. And as the book unfolds, neither is afraid to admit their mistakes and learn from them, even if this involves a lot of duplicity and sexual misconduct before they get there.
The family's designer lifestyle also takes some getting used to, and Jo needs to make some rapid adjustments to her time-honoured childcare methods. Thinking she can tempt Tallulah, aged four, with the promise of a batch of chocolate Rice Krispies cakes, Jo is informed that her young charge prefers hand-baked brioche, filled with homemade houmous. Things don't improve when it comes to creative play, either. Asked what she wants to paint, little Tallulah doesn't even consider a house or a tree - she has her heart set on painting 'a Kandinsky!'
However, Jo's witty intelligence and imaginative resourcefulness mean she's not at a disadvantage for long, and soon the household has become dependent on her.
If Vanessa and Dick are the couple from hell, Dick's grown-up stepson Josh seems like another devil. A successful accountant and ladies' man, he attempts to humiliate Jo by putting her on speakerphone so his entire office can listen to the woman from 'The Tight-Arsed Nanny Academy'. But it's when Josh temporarily moves back into the Fitzgerald household and has to share Jo's flat that things start to get complicated, especially as his insensitive side starts to melt and he turns out to be rather irresistible.
But the novel also has a serious side. Because Jo drifted into nannying without really intending to, as the plot unravels, the real meaning of her job gradually emerges as well. Her nanny friend Pippa encourages her to articulate the value of her work. A nanny is 'the lynchpin of the modern family. I make it possible for a woman to fulfill her potential... I give children belief in themselves... I am a diplomat, listener, enabler, organiser and juggler.' But it isn't until Vanessa has to take a couple of weeks off work to cover for Jo's absence that she too realises what a fine balancing act nannies achieve every day.
In fact, the book makes a point of exploring role reversal. Everyone experiments with different possibilities. The clever device of having both parents, as well as Josh, take responsibility for the children, means that they all come to appreciate Jo's worth. This, in turn, acts as a catalyst for other changes. The main characters all come to realise the importance of doing the work that will most fulfill them - with a few unexpected career changes as a result.
Another theme in the book is the role of women. As Melissa Nathan points out, women today face many new challenges. 'This generation is going through great change. Our mothers were full-time mothers, but they had daughters who were expected to bring up children and go out to work as well. So we don't have any role models,' she says. And finding the balance between work and home life is also unmarked territory. As the mother, Vanessa, says, 'If I'd lived in biblical times, I'd have had all the women of the tribe supporting me. Only one generation ago, I'd probably have had my family living down the street and would have known all my neighbours.'
So instead of having a range of support to draw on, women are very often expected to do it all alone. 'I was home from hospital making my family dinner the day after I had given birth,' Vanessa explains to Dick, 'and my workplace seems to think that my miraculous ability to give birth is proof that I am flawed, rather than proof that I am helping the survival of the human species. And yet I'm expected to feel guilty because I can afford one woman to help me.'
Although it's early days, talks are already underway with a major film company for possible movie rights to The Nanny. Whether it hits the big screen or not, any book that shows the truth about what being a nanny involves puts us all in the picture.
LABOUR OF LOVE
Writing The Nanny was not an easy task, admits author Melissa Nathan. While she was working on the first draft she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The combination of chemotherapy and potential infertility made it nearly impossible to continue working on a comic novel about children. But shortly after The Nanny came out, Melissa gave birth to her first child. And now, with the support of a maternity nurse, she has started another book.
The common notion that having a nanny is an indulgent luxury is one that Melissa says is well overdue for an update. 'In other times, motherhood was appreciated as being tough. But now, if a mother says she needs help, she is seen as weak.'
Of course, there is one group that has great expectations of nannying, Melissa acknowledges - the women who employ them. 'Mothers expect the nanny to be superhuman. They expect you to adore their child, and yet back off at the drop of a hat. But they only have these expectations because they feel so guilty about needing a nanny.'
Guilt or no guilt, Melissa's view of nannies is unequivocal. 'They are completely under-rated,' she says. 'People think it's an easy job, but they don't appreciate the colossal responsibility nannies take on. The UK hasn't caught up yet - unlike in Scandinavia, there is no belief in state-funded home childcare. But it's probably the most important job there is.'
READER OFFER
The Nanny is published by Arrow at 5.99, but Professional Nanny readers can buy a copy for 4.99 by sending a cheque or postal order made payable to EFC Bookshop at PO Box 200, Falmouth, Cornwall TR11 4WJ, or phone with your credit card details on 08700 11 33 69. Be sure to mention you saw the offer in Professional Nanny. Please allow ten to 14 days for delivery.
