Searching for Mary Poppins

Women Write About the Relationship Between Mothers and Nannies

With wit, sensitivity, and unflinching honesty, Searching for Mary Poppins brings together twenty-five of today’s leading woman writers—including Marisa de los Santos, Susan Cheever, Joyce Maynard, and Jacquelyn Mitchard—to explore the emotional minefield of mother-nanny relationships. From Daphne Merkin on the challenges of hiring a nanny after having been raised by one to Lauren Slater on her regret at having “given her mothering away,” the collection’s stunningly original pieces offer rare insight into the complex issues that emerge when a mother turns the care of her child over to a stranger. Raising questions that reach beyond money, race, class, and gender into the darkest areas of love and fear that a mother feels, this book ultimately provides hope, solace, and welcome perspective on this unique relationship.