The Au Pair - Review

The Au Pair  🌟🌟🌟🌟

by Emma Rous
Published January 8 2019 by Berkley Books

This was a mighty good suspenseful tale of family secrets and misfortunes never told, and what can happen when one starts asking questions.  The inquiring mind belongs to Seraphin (a name new to me and highly distracting, since I kept wondering how it's pronounced, why didn't they just call her Sara for short instead of Seph, etc., etc.).  Her chapters were less interesting, as her character seemed shallow and undeveloped.  After finding a snapshot of her family taken on the day of her birth, and the day of her mother's suicide,  she becomes obsessed with finding out if she actually belongs in this family or if something shady transpired that day.  There are rumors of there being only one baby born, rather than two, or maybe there were three.  

The alternating chapters belonged to the au pair, spanning the eleven months just before Seraphin and her twin brother were born.  Here's  where we see how the secrets came into being.  The au pair knows everything, it appears, but someone is threatening her not to talk about it. 

As all is finally revealed, you had better be paying attention or it could become downright confusing.  I had most of it figured out but there still remained some details, which kept coming and coming and coming.  Maybe the final chapter could have been eliminated altogether to give the reader more to imagine.   Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher.

The Girls at 17 Swann Street - Review

The Girls at 17 Swann Street  🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
by Yara Zgheib
Publishing Feb 5 2019 by St. Martin's Press

I do not cry over books.  I might tear up a bit, but seldom is there actual crying.  This book made me cry, multiple times.  

Anna was a ballet dancer, was living in Paris with her French husband, eating fine meals, drinking wine.  Ballerinas are pressured to stay thin, get even thinner, so eating habits had to change.  She also had lost some family members, tragically.  Anna did not choose to become anorexic; she did not consciously decide that 88 pounds was her ideal weight, or that fruit and popcorn  were her main food groups. It just happened as the disease aggressively and stubbornly took over her mind and body.

Now in Midwestern America, she goes for treatment at 17 Swann Street and so much happens in such a short time for her.  I was taken in by all the young women there and their daily struggles.  A very emotional  journey, for me at least.  

A quote from the preview copy I read:  "Only 33% of women with anorexia nervosa maintain full recovery after nine months . Of those, approximately one-third will relapse after the nine-month mark." 

Thank you to the publisher St. Martin's Press for offering me a copy through NetGalley. I will be recommending this one to all my reading friends.