Skip to content

NANNY DEAREST

Flora Collins

In this compulsively readable novel of domestic suspense, a young woman takes comfort in reconnecting with her childhood nanny after her father's death, until she starts to uncover secrets the nanny has been holding for twenty years.
Sue Keller is lost. When her father dies suddenly, she's orphaned in her mid-twenties, her mother already long gone. Then Sue meets Annie. It's been twenty years, but Annie could never forget that face. She was Sue's live-in nanny at their big house upstate, and she loved Sue like she was her own. Craving connection and mothering, Sue is only too eager to welcome Annie back into her life; but as they become inseparable once again, Sue starts to uncover the truth about Annie's unsettling time in the Keller house all those years ago, particularly the manner of her departure - or dismissal. At the same time, she begins to grow increasingly alarmed for the safety of the two new charges currently in Annie's care. Told in alternating points of views - Annie in the mid-'90s and Sue in the present day - this taut novel of suspense will keep readers turning the pages right up to the shocking end. Flora Collins was born and raised in New York City and has never left, except for a four-year stint at Vassar College. When she's not writing, she moonlights as a sales and social media executive at a tech start-up. NANNY DEAREST is her first novel, and draws upon personal experiences from her own family history.
Available products
Book

Published 2021-11-30 by Mira / HarperCollins

Comments

A slick thriller, NANNY DEAREST shows the dark side of a family and the nanny who promised to care for everyone in the home. Read more...

"A powerful debut about the fine line between love and obsession . haunting."

Author's article: SUSPENSE IN SUSTENANCE: FINDING A HEALTHY RELATIONSHIP WITH FOOD, WHILE WRITING A THRILLER Read more...

A domestic thriller in which the domestic elements are cannily veiled as the book unfolds, Nanny Dearest is an accomplished thriller debut. Read more...

"Flora Collins is a sure-handed and inventive suspense novelist, and NANNY DEAREST is an impressive, submersive novel sure to be a big hit. I loved it."

Flora is a debut novelist who nails one really creepy thriller about Sue Keller, a young woman who connects with her childhood nanny, Annie, after 20 years. Her memories are warm until she digs deeper and learns what really happened in the house two decades ago... It was edgy right to the end.

UK: Querkus ; Hungary: Nouvion Trade

...Conflicting memories of the past converge like a fever dream in Flora Collins' riveting debut thriller... Nanny Dearest explores how the need for family and connection can become toxic, even deadly... The perfect choice for those who want thrills without the gore, Nanny Dearest is as compelling as it is unnerving.

...It's a seesaw of rising tension that ultimately delivers a raw, crashing conclusion... Collins's debut illustrates the sometimes obsessive and terrifying nature of love and the shattering consequences of its betrayal. Nanny services across the country may see a dip in demand when this intensely emotional psychological roller coaster is released.

Warners Bros. have optioned the TV rights to Nanny Dearest, with producers Janine Sherman Barrios and Folding Chair Productions.

If you're in the mood for being consoled by the problems of the rich and spoilt, then this book is for you... Collins's smart prose style and good grasp of contemporary issues, as well as a cracking title, mean this debut writer has got off to a promising start. Read more...

A slick, contemporary novel that explores the wispy, nagging memories of childhood, the dark side of relationships, and the unrelenting desire to be loved.

NANNY DEAREST is a delicious spine-tingling thriller that lulls the reader into a false sense of security before going straight for the jugular. Packed with haunting characters and twisted relationships, this impossible-to-put-down slow burner might make people think more than twice about their childcare arrangements!

NANNY DEAREST is one of their 45 Must-Read Books of Fall 2021 Read more...

"She Wrote About the Family Babysitter" wonderful New York Times profile of Flora Read more...

...well-crafted debut... Psychological thrillers fans won't be disappointed.

"You won't be able to put this book down."

Gorgeous profile of Flora in Air Mail: Flora Collins - The Brooklyn-based writer whose debut novel combines Freud, Jordan Peele's Us, and her own upbringing... Read more...

Feature interview in November 2021 Goodreads newsletter: "Meet the Season's Hottest Debut Mystery Authors" Read more...