The Perfect Nanny

Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses spousal abuse, child abuse, and abortion, and contains racist and sexist dialogue.

Chapter 19 introduces a new character: Jacques, Louise’s ex-husband, now deceased. Jacques was emotionally and physically abusive. He’s introduced thusly: “Jacques loved telling her to shut up” (93). Louise would react to her husband’s anger with a mixture of fear and excitement: “She enjoyed making him writhe, working him up into such a state of rage that he was capable of parking on the roadside, grabbing her by the throat and quietly threatening that he would shut her up for good” (93).

Jacques would criticize Louise’s work as a caregiver, telling her that “[o]nly black women do work like that now” (94). Meanwhile, Jacques barely worked at all; after he was made redundant, he tried to sue his employer. Although he lost the lawsuit, he discovered that he enjoyed legal battles and started actively initiating lawsuits. He also took out lines of credit, building up debts. When he died, Louise inherited “failed lawsuits, pending trials, unpaid bills” (96). She was evicted from her home, so she moved to the small apartment she has now, alone.