Cover Image: The Au Pair

The Au Pair

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Member Reviews

Family secrets abound in this gothic style mystery reminicent of a Phyllis A. Whitney novel. Couldn't put this down!

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The Au Pair is amazing! I read it in a day because I couldn't stop reading it! I had to know what was happening in the story. I love how the story is told through two time periods and two specific characters. It flows so well even though it jumps back and forth through the years. This is a book that will definitely keep you reading late into the night! The characters are very well developed, and you'll definitely find a connection to at least one of them. I really was kept guessing throughout this book, and I was surprised by the ending. If you're a fan of suspense, add this to your lists!

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THE AU PAIR by Emma Rous was suspenseful from the very beginning. I liked that the narrator switched between Seraphine and Laura. That stylistic quality added to the intrigue. The characters are well-developed and defined. I also thought the writing was good.


What I didn't like about THE AU PAIR was that the narration was in present tense when Seraphine was narrating, even when the eventts were in the past. I also didn't like the ending, and felt it was somewhat implausable.

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This is how The Au Pair by Emma Rous is described:

A grand estate, terrible secrets, and a young woman who bears witness to it all. If V. C. Andrews and Kate Morton had a literary love child, Emma Rous’ The Au Pair would be it.

That is literally all I need to know. STOP. I want to read this and I know nothing about it. I think my ideal suspense/mystery/thriller would involve Hitchcock, Agatha Christie, and Patricia Highsmith but V.C. Andrews and Kate Morton is a good combination too.

Here’s what you need to know:

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 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 beautifully dressed, smiling serenely, and holding just one baby.

Who is the child and what really happened that day? One person knows the truth, if only Seraphine can find her.

I love a tangled family mystery and have high hopes for The Au Pair. Its receiving awesome reviews so far and people are staying way up past their bedtimes to see what happens next, always a sign of an excellent story.

This is due out in January 2019.

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This is a great read. A family in a country house hires a nanny. Many years later, the daughter, one of three children, tracks down the au pair she had as a child to unravel the mystery of her mother’s death. Is she really their daughter? Or the product of an illicit affair ? Strange things begin to happen. Mysterious notes telling her to give up this quest appear. Grandmother Vera doesn’t want to discuss it. Lots of family tragedies - people falling to their death etc. Never a dull moment. And you’ll never figure out the ending.

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It's a compelling story, but the writing isn't all that great. I lost track of how many times the word "just" was used unnecessarily, but suffice to say that it was too many times.

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The Au Pair by Emma Rous is fabulous! Seraphine and Danny are twins. The day they were born their mom inexplicably commits suicide by jumping off of a cliff at their family home, Summerbourne. They were raised by their dad, Dominic, alongside their older brother Edwin. Now in their 20’s, their father dies and Seraphine returns home. While looking through her father’s things she finds a picture of her mom and dad and older brother. It was taken the day Seraphine and Danny were born but her mother is only holding one baby. Where is the other twin? Which baby is her mother holding? The story progresses from here, told in alternating chapters narrated by Seraphine and Laura, the 20 something au pair who stayed with the family the summer the twins were born. The mystery unfolds chapter by chapter and I could not put this book down. The conclusion was very satisfying. This is one of the best books I’ve read in a long time. Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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This was definitely a page-turner that had me up until past my bedtime trying to squeeze in one more chapter. A complex storyline of who’s who. Only reason for the 4 stars is that I thought the ending was a bit tedious. Overall, a good novel.

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Thanks to Netgalley and Berkley for an advanced e - copy of this book. I read this book in two days and enjoyed the dual time lines and perspectives. I guessed at the ending but still thoroughly enjoyed the story. I always appreciate books that do not contain explicit content and I feel more comfortable suggesting them to library patrons. I will be suggesting this book to many people!

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"The Au Pair" is a full of mystery and family drama. Early on in the book, there are hints that things are not quite as they seem. Seraphine lives alone at the family estate after her father's tragic accident--or was it really an accident? As she goes through her father's things, old photographs awaken fresh questions about her mother, who committed suicide when Seraphine and her twin brother were only hours old. In order to move forward with her life, she needs to find the truth, once and for all. But who knows the truth? And why all the secrets?

This is a fun read, with lots of mystery and questions. I enjoyed the alternating storylines, switching between Seraphine's in the present and Laura--the au pair--in the past. However, there were lots of tangled threads to the story and the ending felt forced and unrealistic. I just couldn't quite believe the actions of the characters, or the way the story was resolved at the end.

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Twins Seraphine and Danny lost their mother to suicide on the day they were born. When Seraphine finds a picture of her mother on that day with just ONE baby, it leads her on a hunt to find out which one of them she was holding, and why she looked so happy in the picture, just moments before jumping off a cliff. What works in this novel is the atmospheric setting, pretty writing, and some respectably tense plotting. What doesn't work is the complete and total stretch of the resolution. The plot twist was so convoluted I had to reread several parts to make sure I had it all straight in my head. Fun, but in a soap opera sort of way.

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The book jumps back & forth in time between 2 women. It's a bit difficult to get into, but once there, it's a fairly good read. It is rather wordy.

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A wonderful gothic novel that’s hard to put down because of multiple twists and turns that keep you guessing until the last page.

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Read this one in two days! Really enjoyed it especially after reading Kate Mortan's latest book. Very similar styles which made them flow nicely together.

A great mystery entwined with interesting characters made for a very enjoyable read.

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Oh, my goodness! You have to read this book. It was amazing. The mystery...the intrigue...I couldn’t figure it out despite trying to right from the start.

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what struck me was the gothic feel of a contemporary book. I felt like I should have been back in time and then up pops a facebook reference!

Seraphine and Danny are twins in a family of twins. But, there are no pictures and why would their mother commit suicide on the day they are born. After the death of their father, Seraphine finds a picture that was taken on the day of their birth but there is only one twin. She sets out to find the Au Pair that the family had during this time. The books goes back and forth between the past and the present. I'm normally not a fan of this but in the book, it works remarkable well.

Twists and turns kept me reading until I was done.

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This was a book that I could NOT put down! The character had me from the start. I especially loved how I was never quite sure where this story was headed. There were new pieces continually added to the story. I would recommend this book to my library patrons that love contemporary mystery fiction

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“”” The worst thing is: I have lost certainty of my family without gaining the truth I was seeking””

Family secrets, dying to be uncovered. Small town whispers of cloaks, rumors of family curses and sprites, all entangling Seraphine and her brothers after their father’s death. Seraphine’s a twin, but finds a picture of her mother holding only one baby. This sets the entire family into motion to find the truth wether they want it revealed or not. The intense family twisted drama is told mainly from the perspective of Seraphine and Laura, the Au Pair who fled the night Seraphine and her twin brother were born. The dysfunctional unfolding of answers kept me turning the pages until I knew their truth.

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Seraphine was not my favorite character in this book. Felt like a flimsy premise for looking in to her parentage. Enjoyed the Laura/Alex/Ruth/Dominic story much more.

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Although well-written and steadily paced, I kept feeling as if I'd read this story before, which is understandable with all of the psychological thrillers being published these days. It reminded me of BLACK RABBIT HALL by Eve Chase, and even THE DEATH OF MRS. WESTAWAY by Ruth Ware, a bit. I will definitely recommend it to my customers who enjoy this type of story, but it did not break new ground for me as a reader. Thanks for the opportunity to preview it.

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