Contents
Chapter Seventeen
Overview
In 2000, Jessamine recounts how Sandra, hired as an au pair after her grandmother’s death, briefly opens Jessamine’s world and challenges her mother’s rigid standards. A prank with fake earrings triggers Mummy’s violent reaction, leading Daddy to expel Sandra and replace her with a distant, silent au pair.
The episode exposes the family’s control, class tension, and the roots of Jessamine’s shifting loyalties.
Summary
Jessamine narrates the period after her grandmother’s death, when her father brings in Sandra as an au pair despite her mother’s disapproval. Initially wary of Sandra’s rough edges, Jessamine grows to like her, drawn to Sandra’s modern, relaxed attitude that contrasts with her parents’ insular, old-fashioned strictness.
As Jessamine adopts Sandra-influenced styles—cheap accessories, looser hair, painted nails—her mother notices and bristles at the shift. When Jessamine pranks her mother with clip-on earrings, Mummy erupts, slapping Sandra twice and accusing her of mutilating Jessamine, only to learn the earrings are fake.
Faced with evidence of overreaction, Mummy doubles down and orders Sandra out when Daddy enters. Jessamine watches as Daddy drives Sandra away, hurt and resigned, her belongings hastily packed.
Two days later, Daddy installs another au pair who lives isolated in the attic, doesn’t smile, and isn’t allowed to speak to the children—signaling a return to control and the shutdown of the brief freedom Sandra represented for Jessamine.
Who Appears
- JessamineNarrator; bonds with Sandra, adopts her style, and witnesses her mother’s violent outburst.
- SandraNew au pair; warm and modern influence on Jessamine; slapped by Mummy and expelled.
- MummyJessamine’s strict mother; resents Sandra, assaults her over a prank, and insists she leave.
- DaddyJessamine’s father; hires Sandra despite tension, then drives her away and replaces her.
- Second au pairSilent replacement housed in the attic, kept distant from the children.