Childcare is one of the most basic needs for parents, and how that need is met is often fraught with issues of race, class, and gender. These novels span those issues and more in their exploration of childcare as a commodity. From murderous nannies and struggling students to recent immigrants and emotionally fragile au pairs, these books transport readers into the lives of complicated families and the workers who help keep them together.

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

Seeking justice for a young Black babysitter who was wrongly accused of kidnapping by a racist security guard, a successful blogger finds her efforts complicated by a video that reveals unexpected connections.

 

 

 

 

The Perfect Nanny by Leïla Slimani

After a French couple finds a too-good-to-be-true nanny to care for their two children, the relationship between the couple and the nanny soon becomes full of jealousy, resentment, and suspicion.

 

 

 

 

The Pleasing Hour by Lily King

Fleeing a devastating personal loss, a young American woman heads to Paris to work as an au pair and finds both trouble and salvation within the Tivot family.

 

 

 

 

 

The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus

Nanny, a struggling NYU student, takes a position caring for the son of the rich and glamorous X family, and learns how to juggle a vast array of tasks so that a Park Avenue wife never has to lift a well-manicured finger.

 

 

 

 

A Perfect Arrangement by Suzanne Berne

Mirella and Howard Cook-Goldman's new nanny, Randi Gill, seems perfect, but when their seamless life begins to unravel, the young woman assumes an inappropriate place in the family structure.

 

 

 

 

A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore

In the Midwest just after the September 11 attacks, twenty-year-old Tassie Keltjin comes of age amid such challenges as racism, the War on Terror, and cruelty in the name of love, as she leaves her family's farm to attend college and takes a part-time job as a nanny.

 

 

 

 

 

Lucy by Jamaica Kincaid

Lucy, a nineteen-year-old girl from the West Indies, comes to North America to work as an au pair and observes the unhealthy realities of the seemingly happy family that employs her.

 

 

 

 

 

Woman No. 17 by Edan Lepucki

Hiring a live-in nanny to attend her family's needs while she attempts to finish writing her book, Lady Daniels begins questioning the young woman's agenda when the latter instantly connects with the family and begins acting in suspicious ways.

 

 

 

 

 

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Summaries provided via NYPL’s catalog, which draws from multiple sources. Click through to each book’s title for more.