My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The Au Pair is a captivating tale of family mysteries and hidden lies and the lengths someone can go to maintain the status quo. Summerbourne the name itself has an enchanted feeling and Emma Rous has done wonderfully conveying the picturesque setting of the house, the beach and the cliffs. Seraphine and Danny are the Summerbourne summerborns but have always heard whispers and rumors surrounding their births and have been referred to as sprites. Seraphine being the sensitive and quick tempered one has never liked the nickname and after finding an old photograph with her mom holding only 1 child, she begins the quest of finding the answer to the inevitable question of Who Am I?
The story is told in alternate chapters by Seraphine and by Laura, the Au Pair in residence during the births and who becomes an integral part of the story that unfolds.
Brilliant!
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.
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.
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This is high on my tbr!
Yayy, I hope you enjoy it😊