3,5 Sterne, aufgerundet. ( )

Het verhaal van een eenvoudige huishoudster/oppas die de centrale persoon wordt in een jong intelectueel gezin ( )

A husband and his wife, Nora, grapple with the death of their housekeeper in this elegiac novel.

Mrs. A., or Babette, as our narrator fondly calls her after the character in a movie, has been a force in the lives of the young man, a physicist, and his wife, Nora, ever since she was hired when Nora was pregnant and on bed rest. The narrator explores the relationship they had with the housekeeper through her work, her cancer treatments, and ultimately her death, as well as more ignoring than acknowledging the strain in his marriage (the original Italian title, "Black and Silver" reflects this more than the English title, more suggestive of the housekeeper's role "Like" (but unlike) family. Based in part on the author's real experiences, though names and some situations have changed, this exploration of grief will ring true for many who have lost someone who touched their lives. ( )

I seem to have a penchant for reading depressing books lately.

They have a nanny. She gets cancer. She dies. Not necessarily in that order.

I knew the plot from the jacket but I expected . . .I don't know. . .more? I didn't really get to see a lot of how Mrs. A lived, but a lot of how she died.

And the main couple. Their relationship seemed a bit off somehow. Most intriguing was Mrs. A's long dead husband. Too bad he couldn't be in the book more. Alive. ( )

Un très court roman mémoriel et subtil. ( )