The Nanny (by Melissa Nathan)

In recent months, I have waded through some fairly mediocre chick-lit. I have left books halfway, groaned at the plot-predictability and mentally castigated the dull-as-ditchwater heroines and their pompous heroes.

So now when I come across an author who took a much-mauled genre and perfectly bound all the essential elements together; I want to genuflect before the Lord and send up a fervent "Thank You!"

The Nanny is another brilliant offering by the late Melissa Nathan. It's a tale of 23 year-old Jo Green. She’s a young lady who’s increasingly feeling the pangs of a life that’s going nowhere. She’s stuck tight in bucolic Niblet-Upon-Avon, lived with her parents, has a boyfriend (Shaun) who she’s known since kindergarten and is trying to eke out a living as an underpaid Nanny.

Taking a leap of faith (and desperation), she decides to take up the job of live-in Nanny in London with an affluent family. The perks are humungous. She will have her own suite with a massive TV, her own car, new friends and the golden opportunity to pull herself out of stagnation.

But every silver cloud has a demented lining.

Her new boss Vanessa Fitzgerald is a hard-wired, smart-talking corporate biggie. Evenings at home take the form of nasty digs and articulate squabbles with her easy-going husband Dick who runs a record store. They are the proud and terribly exhausted parents of bloodthirsty Zak, warrior-pixie Cassandra and the well-mannered little Tallulah. Adding to the family dynamics are Dick’s two sons from his previous marriage : obnoxious (since he has a chip on shoulder) teen Toby and charming but prone-to-bouts of obnoxiousness (since he has enough chips to form a mini-skyscraper on his shoulders) 25-year old Josh.

Just when Jo is getting the hang of things, she suddenly has to deal with the fact that Josh will be her new roommate. Simmering attraction, blow-hot blow-cold responses from Josh and the ever-intrusive presence of boyfriend Shaun do not make for peaceful living. And then there are the constant parallel dramas of the Fitzgerald clan. Everyone seems to be harbouring some deep dark secret....everyone’s ticked off but not always in unison....and everyone needs their lives to be set right.

Jo Green has a lot of growing-up and decision-making to do. All this while finding true-love and keeping her hair attached to their follicles.

The book justifies it’s massive size. Nathan’s style is chatty and witty and loaded with punch and righteous indignation. The characters are not clichéd and even their most confounding personality disorders are beautifully unravelled. I strongly recommend this book to all disillusioned chick-lit lovers who are sniffing out for something fresh, humorous and utterly engaging.

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows - Part 1

Writing a Potter movie-review without *spoilers* is next to impossible. True blue fans know exactly what happened to:
a) The Boy who lived
b) The Girl who sniffed disdainfully into her books
and
c) The Other Boy who played second-fiddle to The Boy who lived and didn’t like it one little bit!

If you expect me to dart around the places where the plot thickens and boils over, stop reading. Now. For the rest, here goes...

The penultimate instalment begins with a poignant scene where Hermione obliviates the memories of her parents, thereby burning her human bridges. The movie ends with Voldemort desecrating Dumbledore’s tomb and flicking the Elder Wand. And between these two moments, the plot unravels in an engaging collage of rip-roaring action, stagnant scenarios and eye-moistening moments.

The Half-Blood Prince ended with the brutal demise of Dumbledore and left Harry in the unfortunate position of leader-without-a-mentor. Potter and his magical entourage have their work cut out. They now know that the only decent chance that they have of stopping Voldemort (dark-wizard extraordinaire and all-time big baddie) is to find the Horcruxes. Looking for the much-maligned needle in a haystack would have been easier. No one knows where or what all the Horcruxes are. The trio of Harry, Ron and Hermione (with special mention for Hermione’s trusty little purse of unimaginable depths) are soon off on a long, confusing journey.

They make suicidal trips into The Ministry of Magic.....uncomfortable trips down memory-lane....and ghastly trips down the road of friendship. The individual loyalties and collective skills of the three Griffindorians is put to the test. In the course of their wanderings, they also learn about The Deathly Hallows (An invincible Elder Wand, A Resurrection Stone and An Invisibility Cloak); the possession of which makes the owner: A Master of Death.

The battle between Good and Evil dances along the horizon and before you know it, you are sucked into the fantastical world created by the marvellous Madame Rowling.

The movie stayed loyal to the book, with minor discrepancies. Where the book stumbled, the movie plodded along too. Where you gripped the book in terse anticipation, you clutched the unsuspecting arm of your poor friend too.

Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) was cheerily wan. His endearing combination of simmering anger and clumsy boyishness worked perfectly. Hermione (Emma Watson) was her usual gorgeous and articulate self. Ron (Rupert Grint), the weedy Weasley boy has become a buff, blustering, purple-in-the-face, jealous (almost)boyfriend and plays his role to the hilt. We get tantalising glimpses of a close-mouthed Snape (Alan Rickman) and a happily deranged Bellatrix Lestrange (Helena Bonham Carter). Ol’Voldy (Ralph Fiennes) hammed it up a bit in this addition. Somehow he never quite recaptured the insane vein that he aptly displayed in The Goblet of Fire. The rest of the cast makes you smile with their familiar portrayals. Luna Lovegood (Evanna Lynch), The Weasley Twins (James and Oliver Phelps), Mad-Eye Moody (Brendan Gleeson) and Dobby (voice of Toby Jones) stand out in particular.

One singular scene that deserves special mention was when Hermione reads out the tale of ‘The Three Brothers’ from the book: The Tales of Beedle The Bard. The animation that ensues is spell-binding. It swirls and accompanied by the narration pulls you right in.

The sets are grandiose, right from the home-grown charm of Fleur and Bill’s wedding to the sheer vastness of the Ministry to the various breathtaking pitstops that the trio make at regular intervals.

As for the argument over whether two instalments of the movie are justified....maybe not. I would have gladly pinned my tushie to the seat for a straight four hours and rooted for Potter till the very end. But on the other hand, I am also pretty chuffed to have an ultimate instalment to look forward to.

More Mayhem. More Action......and more importantly......More Magic.

July2011...Get.Here.Already!