Main Character Description Name Sex Age Address Marital status Family Education Career Physical appearance Personality

Behaviour Attitudes Motivation Development

Amazon.com Review
The Nanny Diaries is an absolutely addictive peek into the utterly weird world of child rearing. Cowritten by two former nannies, Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus, the novel follows the adventures of the aptly named Nan as she negotiates the Byzantine byways of working for Mrs. X, a Park Avenue mommy. Nan's 4-year-old charge, the hilariously named Grayer (his pals include Josephina, Christabelle, Brandford, and Darwin) is a

genuinely good sort. He can't help it if his mom has scheduled him for every activity known to the Upper East Side, including ice skating, French lessons, and a Mommy and Me group largely attended by nannies. What makes the book so impossible to put down is the suspense of finding out what the unbelievably inconsiderate Mrs. X will demand of Nan next. One pictures the two authors having the last hearty laugh on their former employers.

From Publishers Weekly

Two former Manhattan nannies blow the lid off of the private child-care industry with a hilarious debut that pulls no punches as it recounts the travails of Nan, a hip Mary Poppins looking for a job to fit around her child-development classes at NYU. Mrs. X seems enough when she hires Nan to look after her four-year-old son, Grayer, but she quickly reveals herself to be a monster a bundle of neuroses wrapped up in Prada, whose son is little more than another status symbol in a fabulous Park Avenue apartment. Mr. X is just as horrible, although he's rarely seen or heard, too busy navigating mergers and mistresses to make time for a family starving for his affection. Nan finds herself stuck in a low-paying job from which she can be fired on a whim, enduring a steady stream of condescension, indifference and passive-aggressive notes on Mrs. X's posh stationery. Against the advice of family and friends, she stays because of her devotion to Grayer but how long will it be before she explodes? The pages fairly crackle with class resentment that might have been more convincing if Nanny's own family weren't as comfortable, and the finale delivers more whimper than bang, but it's easy to forgive such flaws when everything else rings true. Especially impressive is the authors' ability to allow the loathsome Mrs. X occasional flashes of humanity and pathos. Required reading for parents and the women they hire to do their parenting. National advertising and author publicity. (Mar.)Forecast: With Julia Roberts doing the Random Audio version, and film rights already sold to Miramax, the sky's the limit for this thoroughly appealing title.

The Nanny Diaries deftly skewers the manner in which America's over-privileged raise les petites over-privileged--as if grooming them for a Best in Show competition. Written by two former nannies, this alternately comic and poignant satire punctures the glamour of Manhattan's upper class.

Nanny Hutchinson
Originally in college when the first book began, Nanny Schuester was the primary nanny to Grayer X, and eventually began to love him as a son. Mrs. X fires her after the interaction between Nanny and Grayer, jealous that her son sees Nanny as a mother over her. The X's force Nanny to leave without letting her say goodbye to Grayer, something that haunts her. In a rage, Nanny records herself on the "NannyCam", accusing the X's of being bad parents and begging them to love their son. While working for the X's, Nanny meets and falls in love with a boy who lives in the same building as the X's, someone she nicknamed "Harvard Hottie", as that is where he went to school.

"Harvard Hottie"
Originally living in the same building as the X's, HH runs into Nanny in the elevator while she is hanging out with Grayer. Nicknamed Harvard Hottie by Nanny (as he attended Harvard), they begin to gain a rapport, however their relationship almost crumbles when she runs into him and his high school friends, who he doesn't stop when they insinuate that she is only a nanny so she can have affairs with the rich husbands. However, after much apologizing, they begin a relationship.

Mrs. X
Grayer's mother, Mrs. X is self centered and not a very good mother. Leaving all the parenting work up to Nanny, Mrs. X spends most of her time in seclusion or spending money. However, she doesn't like to spend money on others, as she poorly compensates Nanny for working overtime and fires workers whenever she feels like it. Her relationship with her husband is almost non existent, due to his constant cheating and his constantly long work hours. However, she begins to grow jealous of Nanny once Grayer starts seeing Nanny as his mother over her. She then fires Nanny and prevents her from seeing Grayer once last time.

Mr. X
The very much non existent father of Grayer. He is married to Mrs. X but continuously cheats on her with other women. He similarly works very long hours at his office and would rather not be a

father to Grayer.

Grayer X
The son of Mr. and Mrs. X. He is four during the events of the first book. He becomes very close to Nanny and begins to see her as his mother, as his own would constantly neglect him and his father would ignore him. Unknown to him, Nanny was fired due to a jealous Mrs. X and prevented Nanny from saying goodbye to him, something that emotionally scarred him as he grew up.