Lullaby
Ratings18
Average rating3.4
3.5 stars
I love slow burn, simmering thrillers where the unease creeps up on you and this was definitely one of them.
Already knowing the crime and the offender from the get go, this story focuses more on how we got from the perfect nanny to a brutal murderer. And while I think this book was very well written (although I only read the translation), I was so disappointed and ANNOYED at the ending. I completely understand leaving it slightly open ended and not explaining exactly what drove Louise into her madness (I suppose to keep up the motif of still not knowing Louise fully no matter how close we are to her) but I still hated such an abrupt ending. I would have rated it 4 stars if it had more closure.
I know some found faults with Lullaby and I do agree it isn't a faultless novel. However I found it a gripping and well executed whydunnit with a dark ‘The Virgin Suicides' vibes. I found the depth to Louise's character that included : loneliness, financial vulnerability, maternal frustration and mental health conditions, fascinating and it allowed me to find the plot dense and ambiguous instead of rather cliched which I really appreciated about the novel. I found the musings on women's balance between home maker and career woman and the guilt Myriam feels for returning to work really intriguing and powerful in this book. There were only a few nitpick issues I had with the structure and form of the novel but I think that is down to the translation from the French. Overall I think it had a thriller vibe while still being a much deeper literary read about relationships, loneliness and poverty. I fell in love with this dark story from the first 20 pages. It satisfies all my love for dark and psychologically gripping plots and so I have unashamedly given it a 5 star rating as it gave me an extremely pleasurable reading experience. I would happily try any work by the author in the future.