What Does Your Nanny Know?

By Elizabeth Darst

03/11/2002 at 11:29 AM EST

It's often said that it's hard to get good help these days. Well, "the help" is now biting back, in the form of a new novel being released this week called "The Nanny Diaries," reports Reuters. The book, written by Nicola Kraus, 27, and Emma McLaughlin, 28, two former nannies, provides a rare glimpse into the lives of the (mostly) women who tend to the children of extremely wealthy New Yorkers. The protagonist, Nan, cares for Grayer, the 4-year-old child of Mr. and Mrs. X. Mrs. X doesn't cook, clean or keep a job; Mr. X makes a great deal of money but only occasional appearances in the family's lavish home. After all her shuttling of Grayer to myriad after-school activities and performance of other tasks such as running superfluous errands for the idle Mrs. X, Nan's Christmas gift from the wealthy family is a pair of earmuffs. Of the story, Kraus told Reuters: "It is drawn from our imagination, rooted in our experience. I wouldn't say it is an exaggeration but it is a work of fiction."