Seraphine Mayes is one of the Summerbourne clan and has led a privileged life. However, along with twin brother, Danny, and older brother, Edwin, she has had a childhood without the guidance and love of their mother.

The Summerbournes have weathered many tragedies, some that have become legend. But the suicide of their mother, Ruth, on the same day that the twins were born is one that they have never recovered from.

The narrative of The Au Pair is split between Seraphine and Laura, who was au pair to Edwin, while the lives of Ruth, her husband, Dominic, and lover, Alex, are unravelling. Laura is a young woman with her own family problems who is thrown into the turmoil of adult tragedies. However, she does hold the key to what really went on, on the day that the twins were born and Ruth died.

When Seraphine’s father dies unexpectedly after falling from a rooftop, she starts to rummage through boxes of photos and discovers one that strikes her as unusual. It was taken on the day she was born, and her mother died. Ruth is pictured with just one child and looking contented only hours before she took her own life.

Seraphine, fuelled by grief, decides to track down Laura, the au pair who also disappeared on that day, to find out what she knows about the events. She has no idea what is to come.

The split narrative increases the suspense as we slip between present day as the story unfolds and 25 years in the lead-up to the tragedy. Filled with intrigue, The Au Pair had me guessing until the final pages. This is an impressive debut novel.

Reviewed by Melissa Wilson