The Lindbergh Nanny

 By: Mariah Fredericks

Location: FIC FRE

Genre: Historical Fiction, Mystery

Mariah Fredericks's The Lindbergh Nanny is powerful, propulsive novel about America’s most notorious kidnapping through the eyes of the woman who found herself at the heart of this deadly crime.

When the most famous toddler in America, Charles Lindbergh, Jr., is kidnapped from his family home in New Jersey in 1932, the case makes international headlines. Already celebrated for his flight across the Atlantic, his father, Charles, Sr., is the country’s golden boy, with his wealthy, lovely wife, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, by his side. But there’s someone else in their household—Betty Gow, a formerly obscure young woman, now known around the world by another name: the Lindbergh Nanny.

A Scottish immigrant deciphering the rules of her new homeland and its East Coast elite, Betty finds Colonel Lindbergh eccentric and often odd, Mrs. Lindbergh kind yet nervous, and Charlie simply a darling. Far from home and bruised from a love affair gone horribly wrong, Betty finds comfort in caring for the child, and warms to the attentions of handsome sailor Henrik, sometimes known as Red. Then, Charlie disappears.

Suddenly a suspect in the eyes of both the media and the public, Betty must find the truth about what really happened that night, in order to clear her own name—and to find justice for the child she loves.

A sympathetic and thought-provoking portrait of "she who left unlocked." Betty Gow had a plum job as the nurse for the Lindbergh baby. The narrative takes some time setting the scene and showing us life with the Lindbergh family. There were so many staff members who would have known that Charlie was staying at Hopewell that night. It is unfortunate that Betty was tried and convicted by so many without evidence. The trial scenes were especially revealing. This was fascinating!