Davina Trent is a structured, organised, child-shy divorce
lawyer. In fact, she is so unwilling to have kids in her life that it ended the
most serious relationship in her life. In a twist of fate, Trent, finds herself
in charge of two kids when her cousin dies in an accident and she’s the only
relative left. Not one to take active responsibility, Trent is willing to provide
financially for the kids but actually leaves them in the foster care system.
Eventually she brings them home with a plan of packing them off to a boarding
school. The school can only take the kids in after six months so Trent hires a
full-time, live-in nanny, Wendy Darling, for the period. Wendy wanted to be a
teacher but got involved with a do-nothing scum who broke her heart and wiped out
her bank balance. Unable to afford pursuing her degree, Wendy chose to travel
the world teaching and nanny-ing for five years before returning to Britain.
There are a lot of typical lesfic and typical Jenny Frame
tropes in this one. There is age gap. Poor girl-rich girl. Butch/femme (in fact
Frame’s butches are always epically super butch and masculine-presenting).
Opposite personalities. However, there is a sense of no real depth in this one
with things resolving much too fast and must too easily especially the speed with which Trent transforms from child-uncomfortable to child-loving. Like all of Frame’s
femme characters, Wendy is totally likeable. After initial disbelief at leaving
the kids in foster care, Trent evokes no particular feeling despite her frankly awful father and nanny backstory.
Frame’s writing flows well as always making this an easy,
though not particularly memorable, read.
⭐⭐⭐★
