If V. C. Andrews and Kate Morton had a literary love child, Emma Rous’ USA Today bestseller The Au Pair would be it.One of the most anticipated books of 2019 from Pop Sugar, Bustle, Cosmo, Parade, and Goodreads!Seraphine Mayes and her twin brother, Danny, were born in the middle of summer at their family’s estate on the Norfolk coast. Within hours of their birth, their mother threw herself from … Norfolk coast. Within hours of their birth, their mother threw herself from the cliffs, the au pair fled, and the village thrilled with whispers of dark cloaks, changelings, and the aloof couple who drew a young nanny into their inner circle.
Now an adult, Seraphine mourns the recent death of her father. While going through his belongings, she uncovers a family photograph that raises dangerous questions. It was taken on the day the twins were born, and in the photo, their mother, surrounded by her husband and her young son, is smiling serenely and holding just one baby.
Who is the child, and what really happened that day?
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The premise sucks you in right from the get go. It’s written in an interesting way – two viewpoints. The author did a good job of building the characters and painting a decent picture of the environment. I recommend the read.
I could not put this book down. What a ending.
This book would have been good if it weren’t so predictable….by the second chapter, I knew exactly how it would play out, and when, and why. It made the characters less likeable, but I kept on reading it. It finished and ended the same way I had predicted at the beginning of the book.
The premise of this book was a bit thin, though the twisty turns keep the plot moving at a good clip. What drives the choices of a mother? A father? How do those choices affect the children in the family? The pathways to those answers were tension filled and engaging. The characters are terrific. I was all-in, right up to the conclusion. It was a great first book, I look forward to more by Emma Rous.
A real page turner – could barely put it down – so many twists and turns. Rarely have I been so engrossed in a book! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
Seraphine Mayes recently lost her father and as she is going through his belongings she discovers a photograph she has never seen before. Her mother, who committed suicide on the day she was born, is holding either her or her twin brother, which strikes her as odd. She is inordinately curious about this, in my opinion, and questions her older brother about it.
In a quest for answers she reaches out to Laura, her older brother’s Au Pair, at the time of her birth. The chapters then alternate between Laura’s story from the ’90’s, told from her POV, and Seraphine’s told in the present.
As the stories come together, the book speeds up and the second half is quite engaging; however, I didn’t love the ending. Emma Rous, however, is a brilliant writer, and I loved her word smithing.
Good story! The suspense kept me intrigued and guessing throughout most of the story. The last few chapters were a steaming hot mess but I guess it worked for me because I still liked the story.
Hard to put down. Great character development.
Twisty ending I didn’t see coming! Well I did guess part of it, but not all of it. Interesting how it all played out.
This book was a bit slow at times, but I still needed to know how it ended.
The Au Pair gives off some serious Gothic vibes and I can now understand why so many readers are comparing this book to V.C. Andrews oldest novels. Admittedly, when I first started reading this one I wasn’t sure if I would like it. It felt a little slow and the writing is what I would describe as old school/class (a la V.C. Andrews). However, as I began to dive deeper into the novel the story gained momentum and I haven’t been able to stop reading since. I actually started it at page 65 today and didn’t stop until the end at 360 pages. That’s a lot of reading in one day! I just couldn’t stop and needed to see which secrets would be revealed and how everything would come together. Emma Rous certainly has a knack at writing because this book kept my rapt attention.
In terms of the books genre I would say that this one lies within the domestic thriller, suspense, and Gothic literature category. I know, this is quite a few but honestly when you read it you will understand why it encompasses all these genres.
As for the pacing of the story I think it’s pretty clear to those who are reading this review that it’s extremely fast paced! I soared through 200 pages in less than a day (I’m counting in breaks, cooking dinner, tending to my family, and STILL reading and finishing this book)). It’s an intriguing read, one that can seriously entrap you so be aware of this and make sure you have the time to read because it’s hard to put down!
The plot. Oh man, it’s juicy! There are family secrets GALORE and everything is expertly revealed in time. There are many layers to the story and readers need to pick through them with the characters to figure out the truth. Overall, I loved the scandalous secrets that were being hidden and I appreciated the uniqueness to the story (especially the twist). HOWEVER, I sort of figured out the twist before it was revealed. That’s at no fault of the author just simply me putting together all the pieces from what I learned though each of the characters. This is the main reason I gave the book 4 stars.
In any event, I really enjoyed this one and I’m truly looking forward to the authors future novels. It’s clear she writes original stories and I’m excited to see where she takes us next!
Excellently written and presented. Good job!
The book was pretty predictable but it was still an emotional rollercoaster. You would want Seph to be your friend.
I enjoyed reading it. Interesting turn of events.
This was an awesome read with a surprise ending!
The characters were very important and I got invested in finding out the secret of their lives. I thought I could figure it out but there were great revelations at the end.
Awesome
Kept me interested.
Liked the way the chapters changed from the present to before and when the “twins” were born. There were some twists in the story that I did not figure out until the end. Good read
Loved this book, read in one sitting.