Men and Angels

With her husband abroad, an art historian employs a devout but difficult nanny, unsettling her domestic life as well as her view of motherhood—and of herself

When Anne Foster’s husband accepts a yearlong teaching job in France, she decides to resume her own career in art history, which includes cataloging the work of a compelling and long-neglected painter, Caroline Watson. To care for her children, Anne employs the pious Laura Post. Though the young woman is well liked by the children, she rubs Anne the wrong way. Should Anne be more compassionate, or should she behave more like the willful artist—and unapologetically bad mother—she’s so fascinated by in Watson? As the discord mounts between Anne and Laura, the need for answers sharpens.

Men and Angels* is a riveting and refreshingly unsentimental inquiry into motherhood and sacrifice.