Lullaby - Leïla Slimani

Winner of the 2016 Prix Goncourt

A compulsive, darkly chilling investigation into motherhood, class division and power, Lullaby caused a rush of controversy and debate when it was published in France under its original title, Chanson Douce, selling over a 100,000 copies in its first week alone. 

The baby is dead. It only took a few seconds.

Myriam, a French-Moroccan lawyer and her husband Paul, a successful music producer, have everything; good careers, a happy home life, two beautiful children. When Myriam decides to return to work after having children, she and her husband look for the perfect nanny for their two young children.

They never dreamed they would find Louise: 40-years old, experienced and apparently devoted to her work. She’s quiet, polite, she sings to their children, cleans the family's chic apartment in Paris's upscale tenth arrondissement, stays late without complaint and is able to host enviable birthday parties. Before long the couple are boasting that they’ve found the perfect nanny.

But as the couple and Louise become more dependent on each other, cracks begin to emerge in their perfectly crafted ideal. And as jealousy, resentment and suspicion increase, Myriam and Paul's idyllic tableau is shattered...

Tapping into every parents worst nightmare – the death of their children – Lullaby is both a tightly plotted, intricately woven thriller and a piercing investigation into society’s attitudes to motherhood, family and individual identity.