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Title: Diary of an American Au Pair by Majorie Leet, Marjorie Leet Ford ISBN: 0-09-928642-4 Publisher: Vintage Books USA Pub. Date: August, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $19.95

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Average Customer Rating: 3.62 (8 reviews)

Rating: 2
Summary: Boring Read
Comment: No matter how bad a book is I usually read all the way through in hopes that it will get better. This one doesn't. The cover of the book says it's a novel but there is no plot and no storyline. The cover of the book also says it's a diary and that is exactly what it is, the main character's diary of what she experienced as a nanny in England.

All this book really contains is descriptions. Descriptions of the color of the walls, the décor in the bedroom, a cooking class, endless description of food and letters mailed home. The characters in the book are so poorly developed that you just don't care about them. That includes the main character, Melissa, who comes across as needy and spineless. She has a fiancé back home whom she loves but doesn't want him to come visit for fear he'll embarrass her with his "terrible language and his hicklike manners." And then there's Simon, a lab nerd who takes her on a date to see monkey's mate. Which man will she choose? Who cares? Neither of them sound like a catch.

The author attempts to bring some sort of rising conflict into to story and then fails to develop it. Throughout the story you get the sense that the children Melissa are caring for are good, well-behaved children. Then three-fourths of the way into the book we are told that one of the children is actually "very, very naughty." We are never told why and are left wondering. Also, Melissa was suppose to married the fiancé back home but called off the wedding. We are only told there was a "problem" and that was never explained.

The only way I would recommend this book would be if you were stranded on a desert island and had absolutely nothing else to read.

Rating: 5
Summary: A good read and you learn a little about life in the UK, too
Comment: Many of the other reviewers are off base on this one. This is an enjoyable "chick lit" read and you actually learn something as well. While there is a little bit of the typical focus of this genre on the boyfriend/marriage chase, the reader also learns quite a bit about how the landed class live in the UK. I preferred the author's empathy to her charges over the high level of disdain for everyone that is the hallmark of the Nanny Diaries. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and think that the next time I go to the UK I will have a little more appreciation for the country and its people.

Rating: 3
Summary: Middling -- 2 1/2 stars
Comment: I had high hopes for this novel, but it failed to spark my interest. Originally published as Do Try to Speak as We Do, The Diary of an American Au Pair comes across as a guide to British terminology. Thus the former title is better suited for this novel. The novel is centered on the culture shock Melissa experiences when she moves from San Francisco to work as an au pair for an aristocratic family in Scotland. From then on, Melissa chronicles her misadventures with the Haig-Ereildouns family - most of which is centered on the cultural differences between Americans and the British. There are some amusing moments, but not enough to make it interesting. I recommend The Nanny Diaries instead.