Name: Maria Davis 's review of Lullaby by Leïla Slimani
Item: Lullaby
Rating: 3
Author: Maria Davis

Leïla Slimani

The baby is dead. It took only a few seconds. 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...

Lullaby

Johanna Kenrick

A dark but enjoyable read. Not a groundbreaking book or premise but compelling non the less. Maybe parts got lost in translation but I would have liked a little more detail

Maria Davis 

WINNER OF THE DEBUT NOVEL OF THE YEAR AT THE BRITISH BOOK AWARDS 2019 A SUNDAY TIMES TOP 100 NOVEL OF THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY The baby is dead. It took only a few seconds. When Myriam, a brilliant lawyer, decides to return to work, she and her husband look for a nanny 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 Paris apartment, stays late without complaint and hosts enviable birthday parties. But as the couple and their nanny become more and more dependent on each other, jealousy, resentment and suspicions increase, until Myriam and Paul's idyllic domesticity is shattered . . .

Joana

Right before I pick up Lullaby I gave a quick glance over the reviews and a lot of people were complaining this is not a thriller, that the story is more of a character study. And they were right! This is NOT A THRILLER!! I'm going even a step further and say this is not even a mystery. You won't be on the edge of your seat while reading, you won't be trying to uncover what the characters are hiding because for the reader everything is laid out on the page.

Louise is a nanny of two little kids and the children are dead. Louise killed them. Then, the story goes back to when everything started and present the characters and their personalities. There isn't a tipping point when everything starts to go wrong or dark secrets are being hidden.

The story constructs itself on these characters. Their actions, their thoughts. As readers we see everything. And in the end, Louise is not seen as a victim in any way shape or form. She's still a killer, now a killer with a story.

As I was reading I was questioning myself in what genre this book should fall into. The story is slow to medium paced, there isn't any romance, no mystery, no thrilling, no drama. It's purely a story about characters. Although those characters represent the worst in humans. Not a single character is loveable. Some are just egotistical and others are abusers. But all of them represent a horrifying side of humans. And because of that and other small moments throughout the story, I would put this in the horror genre. In the mild side of horror, but in the genre nonetheless.

The gruesomeness of the crime, what some characters have gone through, some of the thoughts they all have, and the final line - which made my heart skip a bit! - all construct this horrible view of what people are capable of. So it's not the story itself that is scary in any way, instead are the characters actions that create this evil world that sadly exists. So it's almost a psychological horror without fully being one. This is a very complicated book to define!

Overall, I usually don't enjoy a character-based story, I prefer a plot-moved book that is always more fast-paced. Although the chapters are short and not numbered, which gives a continuity feeling I really liked, it doesn't lose much time describing settings or characters leaving their actions and thoughts to do that over time. And because of that, the story is always moving forward. It doesn't feel like nothing is happening.

I enjoyed it more than I was expecting. And if you like books about horrible people, don't mind getting a little freaked out, enjoy the psychological aspect that goes behind committing a crime, this can be the story for you. Although I can't stress enough... THIS IS NOT A THRILLER!

Nadine 

Clever commentary on the relationship between a nanny and family disguised as a crime novel. Yes there is race and gender and employment dynamics but mostly I found the theme of extreme and inexorable poverty the most interesting.

Arwa El

How is this a bestseller? The story was incredible boring and felt like it was told a million times before.

Tori

3.5 stars

I love slow burn, simmering thrillers where the unease creeps up on you and this was definitely one of them. 
Already knowing the crime and the offender from the get go, this story focuses more on how we got from the perfect nanny to a brutal murderer. And while I think this book was very well written (although I only read the translation), I was so disappointed and ANNOYED at the ending. I completely understand leaving it slightly open ended and not explaining exactly what drove Louise into her madness (I suppose to keep up the motif of still not knowing Louise fully no matter how close we are to her) but I still hated such an abrupt ending. I would have rated it 4 stars if it had more closure.

Deailova El

Gemma McCarthy

"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 10th 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." -- Publisher's description.

Mareike Heller

Leila Slimani

The baby is dead. It only took a few seconds. 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...

Johanna Kenrick &
Lullaby by Leïla Slimani

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Johanna Kenrick &Lullaby by Leïla Slimani

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Johanna Kenrick &
Lullaby by Leïla Slimani