The Unnatural History of the Nanny

by Jonathan Gathorne-Hardy

A fascinating social history of a uniquely British institution.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

350 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

British author born in 1933, nephew of the English garden writer Robert Gathorne-Hardy.

Reviews

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Came for the history, stayed for the dodgy psychology.

[Sophia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Are there a lot of weird conclusions about sex in this book? Yes, obviously.

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is just what its title says it is, a history of the rise and fall of the British nanny. It is a very thorough look, full of history, personal anecdotes, psychological insights, quotes from memoirs and literature.

Of course, this is an older book, from the 1970s, so the psychology seems... well, I'm hardly an expert, but it struck me as old-fashioned, and probably politically incorrect. However, it also had a lot of very interesting theories. Notably I was intrigued by the idea that the trope of the "angelic mother" found in late 19th-early 20th century literature was because upper class British mothers left all the harsh parenting to their nannies. So their children were left with an idealized portrait of motherhood which permeated the culture.

So, while I won't take its conclusions as gospel truth, I still found this a fascinating book.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a really interesting read. It covered so many decades but some things remained the same. While having a Nanny may be helpful , the way some of them were trained to raise children is nuts. And the cruelty factor from some of these women! But some of it is the time periods they were in. Diffferent decades have had diferent theories on childcare. The longterm effects these women had on their charges is explored as well. It was fascinating to read and some things helped make sense of other things I have read and seen over the years.

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Abandoned on page 56 of 330. Not enough history, too much outdated psychology.