Nanny Returns
by Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus
August 2010 Book Pick

Nan is back is Nanny Returns! But this time she is a grown women, married and with thoughts of her own children dancing around in her head (well maybe more in her husband's head but she pretends to entertain the idea!)

This time around Nan finds herself back in the thick of things with the privileged X family but in a much different role. The boys are growing up and their parents are completely falling apart. Nan covertly steps in as a sort-of mother figure when Grayer, now a teenager, shows up on her doorstep drunk. Add to this mix a husband who definitely wants kids of his own, a great fear in Nan of becoming a mother exactly like the type she loathes - Mrs. X, and a school-system job where the adults are ridiculed and the overprivleged students rule the roost.

This cast of characters is quirky, loveable, and sometimes deplorable. McLaughlin and Kraus have served up another engaging dramedy which will make even the best of parents cringe and wonder, "am I doing that to my kid?!

Book Club Picks: Nanny Returns Discussion Questions

1. If you were Nan, would you help Grayer without his mother's knowledge? Why or why not?
2. Do you think all privleged kids act as described in this novel?
3. Will Nan make a good mother? Why or why not?

Can you tell those of this who have not read The Nanny Diaries, why is Nan so deathly afraid of Mrs. X? And as a side note, is their last name really X?! Can you explain this significance?

Mrs. X was one of Nan's first bosses. In our experience, there's a real learning curve involved in entering the working world. At the start one tends to expect the dynamic one had with teachers and parents, setting up unrealistic expectations for feedback and support. To exacerbate matters, Mrs. X's marriage was under extreme duress, leading her to have needs from Nan that were equally un-fulfillable. And Mrs. X was empirically scary, in the way that very wealthy, very angry people can be-she had unlimited resources at her disposal and impeccable standing in the community. She also established a pattern of taking out her seemingly unlimited, albeit misplaced, rage on her employees and Nan fears that if she ran into her now Mrs. X could still let loose with a tirade that would take Nan's eyebrows off.

As for the name, we chose X as a fun device so that readers would know that this isn't just one family behaving like this, but an entire community. We have since heard from readers literally the world over that Mrs. Xes are more prevalent than we would have believed.

Nanny Returns interview with Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus

Book Club Discussion: Interview with Emma McLaughline & Nicola Kraus

Nan is obviously worried about motherhood. For someone who has put herself in a maternal role in more ways than one and in more than one aspect of her life, why is she so scared to take the leap of starting her own family with a husband that loves her?

As Nan points out to her husband early in the novel, there is a tremendous distance between taking on a maternal role and being a mom. Nan's years in childcare made her acutely aware of the damage that can be done to children by mothers who didn't fully embrace the all-encompassing chaos that is inherent in parenting and Nan thinks she must be 100% ready for that embrace to do it responsibly. At the beginning of Nanny Returns Nan is waiting for that 100% feeling, which as any parent in the delivery room will tell you, doesn't exist. Who feels 100% ready to a parent? By the end of the novel Nan realizes that this expectation and the fear around it is masking a deeper wound. But we won't give it away...

Nanny Returns interview with Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus

Are "privileged" kids really as awful as they are described in this book?

Of course not all children born to wealth are obnoxious, but we have heard, both from children we nannied for who are now teenagers among them, and from friends of ours who teach at these schools that some of these kids can behave truly viciously. And it's important to make the distinction that it's not the wealth that corrodes these children, but the parental neglect enabled by it. Many of these students are angry at the parents who have absented themselves from their lives and are seeking substitute adults who will care enough to push back on that anger. Like Nan, Nicki grew up on Park Avenue and went to private school, so she has also witnessed much of this firsthand. The only difference is that the private schools used to take a firm hand in providing these much needed boundaries. Now, as their Boards of Directors have been bought out by parents, it seems some students can get away with just about anything to the detriment of the institutions, those who work there and, ultimately, to the students themselves.

Nanny Returns interview with Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus

The theme I found most important here is how incredibly influential parents are in their children's lives. Do you think most parents realize this, or only figure it out once it's too late?

It seems that the culprit is a cycle of neglect. Most of the adults in this novel weren't raised by their own parents, so they don't have a model of what consistent care and concern is supposed to look or feel like. We're guessing no one ever lifted four year-old Citrine's sundress and blew a zerbert on her tummy so she won't think to tickle her own baby. Elizabeth X had no interest in spending time with her son, Mr. X, and hence, he doesn't see any need or value in spending time with Grayer. It takes awareness and effort to break these cycles.

Nanny Returns interview with Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus

As a teacher, I was outraged by the school and its boards' policy of handling the mistreatment of teachers. Does this really happen in NYC? If so, why?

We have heard from friends of ours who teach at these schools that the parents have donated their way to such a position of power that their kids are allowed to run wild. And treat the faculty like their maids (who, by the way, are due respect as well). From even before these kids are born the parents are throwing money (not time) at their upbringing and, in exchange, want to trot out an attractive progeny who speaks French and will get into a good college. Any information that the little one is not on track, from nannies, teachers, or the children themselves, is not well received. And this is the echelon of society that invented shooting messengers.

Nanny Returns interview with Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus

Are Nan's adventures finished or might we see her as a mother after all?

We would love to write another installment! We are eagerly awaiting that a-ha moment when we see what lays ahead for her. And as mothers now ourselves we are feeling we'll have something to say on that topic in the near future.

Nanny Returns interview with Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus

Can you tell us anything about your current writing projects?

Our next YA novel, Over You, will be out in 2011, along with our next adult novel, which we are just outlining now-and we are screenwriting as well. We love all forms of writing, books, articles, screenplays, teleplays. We'll write a menu if you ask us nicely!

Nanny Returns interview with Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus

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