Stars: 4
Review by: MandyApgar
A combination biography, cultural record, and modern history, all told through the eyes of Britain's longest serving nanny. Born into a loving (but shortly impoverished) family and obsessed with babies after the birth of her treasured brother David, "Nana Brenda" received a scholarship to the nation's most prestigious nanny training school. Serving as a child care professional, nurse, de facto farmer, among several other tasks, she recounts her professional career with a wry insight and intelligence. Working as a nurse during WWII (and becoming in charge of the facility when her predecessor suddenly leaves) she developed an extra appreciation for the impoverished through her experience with a little boy whose mother refused to bathe him. Dealing with difficult parents became the norm, as did improvising when said parents seemed to be totally clueless about the changes childbirth put upon their bodies as well as the resultant children. Having no husband or kids of her own, she instead found her calling amongst the numerous families of youngsters she cared for over the years. And, after her mother died in a tragic car crash that nearly destroyed her father and elder sister as well, she relied on her charges more than ever to help her with her own troubles. She is currently (as of the time of print in 2013) still serving as a nanny, having come out of retirement specially for the own children of one of her favorites. Interesting not only for its descriptions of country vs city life in England through the last century, as well as changing attitudes on childcare and morality, all told by a lady who certainly has the aptitude to have stood for it all.
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