The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware

Hello everyone.

I don't know how my parents managed. How could they take care of a three year old child and have newborn triplets? If you knew my sisters you'd know that it is an even bigger feat than you think!  I'm not saying they were, and continue to be, a pain but....  Anyway, I remember my parents each sitting at one end of the sofa, with me sitting on the floor watching tv. They were each giving a child a bottle and the third was sitting, leaning against me, with my arms wrapped around her so she couldn't fall over. I am still not sure how my mother coped when my dad was at work, three cribs lined up in one bedroom with screaming, I mean delightful, babies wanting attention. Since both sets of grandparents were local, I suspect my grandmothers were the key. Otherwise, a nanny would have been a huge help.

I just read The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware. This is the story of a young nanny who works for a family in a remote "smart house" in the Scottish Highlands. The homeowners and parents of four children have to go out of town immediately after the nanny, Rowan, is hired, leaving her to figure out the electronic gizmos and the often unruly children. As the house begins to have a mind of its own, with unexplainable things happening, the reader becomes entranced in the story.  Add into the mix a dark history for the isolated house along with the legend of ghosts, and the story is off and running in true Ruth Ware form.

This book is full of mood and description without being wordy. It puts you firmly into this bizarre home, feeling everything from the terror of things going bump in the night, to the cold of the Scottish evenings.  As usual the author stays on topic, with a strong plot drawing the reader in deeper and deeper into the story until it is impossible not to read to the unforgettable end.  As I said with The Death of Mrs. Westaway (June 2, 2018), I've read all of Ruth Ware's books and each one is better than the last, leaving me to wonder what she will do next.

Be forewarned, if you read this, you may well chuck your electronic assistant (Alexa) into the trash.