Everything and Nothing

Written by Araminta Hall

Narrated by Amy Elton

A gripping psychological suspense read

A family near breaking point hire a nanny with secrets of her own in this gripping novel from an exciting talent.

Cupboards were sticky from spilt jam and honey, and the oven smoked when you turned it on because of the fat that had built up over the years. Agatha would never, ever let her future home end up like this. She would never leave it every day like Ruth did. She would never put her trust in strangers.

Ruth and Christian are – just – holding their marriage together, after Christian's disastrous affair a year ago. But chaos beckons, and when the family are suddenly left without any childcare, Agatha comes into their lives to solve all their problems. But Agatha is not as perfect as she seems and her love for the children masks a deeper secret.

Everything and Nothing is a stunningly assured debut, superbly evoking an atmosphere of inexorable and sinister menace that builds to a mesmerising climax in a story that is, at its heart, about thwarted and damaged love.

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‘An assured debut takes the Mary Poppins myth and turns it into a menacing tale of the enemy invited in… I suspect that this will be the first of what promises to be a new genre: the nanny chiller’ Sunday Times

‘Chilling and suspenseful’ The Sun

‘An unsettling, menacing read’ Grazia

‘A suspenseful and emotive examination of a family in meltdown…Hall’s tale is told assuredly and touches on the darkness, tensions and unhappiness behind the facade of daily family life. It’s a skilfully executed debut novel that nestles perfectly alongside the dark, nuanced psychological thrills of Daphne du Maurier and Sophie Hannah’ Waterstones Books Quarterly

‘Everything and Nothing is a beautifully written, completely gripping novel that plays on the unsettling notion that sometimes the least safe place is your very own home' Emily Mortimer

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Jan 17, 2013
• ISBN: 9780007508785

Araminta Hall

Araminta Hall has an MA in creative writing and authorship from the University of Sussex, and teaches creative writing at New Writing South in Brighton, where she lives with her husband and three children. She is the author of Our Kind of Cruelty, which was named a best book of 2018 by CrimeReads and Real Simple.

Reviews for Everything and Nothing

[Jill Jorgensen · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I was expecting the same sort of book as Our Kind if Cruelty. I think this novel feel short. Too many cliches, too many stereotypical responses. The characters never seemed real. I was disappointed. I expected more

[scot2-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I did not like either the husband or the wife in this story. They seemed totally confused and out of touch with their lives.I think I've met a lot of people similar to them. I did feel sorry for the nanny. You knew from the start that all was not right with her, but once you read why she was different pity for her took over.

[jayne_charles_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Just when you thought it was safe to go back to work comes this book. We know from the back cover and the opening sections that the ‘perfect nanny’ employed by the chief characters will turn out to be less than perfect, but waiting for things to go wrong is a tense experience.I liked and admired this book for its ability to make me understand and sympathise with all the characters - including the nanny - and its willingness to take on the big philosophical topics of life and set out to encapsulate them using highly effective imagery. As events draw to a climax, and the couple who have spent the previous 200 pages bickering are suddenly engulfed in a new level of crisis, I found the description of their emotional state astute and utterly compelling.I would have to say my favourite moment of the novel was early on, where Christian reads his daughter three Charlie and Lola books and “loses the will to live.” Coming downstairs, he remarks to the cat: “Did you know that Charlie has a little sister Lola. She is small and very funny. Except of course she isn’t. She is annoying and precocious and due to total parental neglect has transferred all her negative attention complexes onto poor Charlie who should get some sort of medal from Carol Vorderman.” What joy, what utter joy to discover I’m not the only person who thinks that. Definitely an author on my wavelength.

[nicx27 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Ruth and Christian are a couple struggling to cope with life. They have two children they hardly see, two demanding jobs, and are pulling in different directions after surviving a crisis in their marriage. They hire a new nanny, Agatha, to help them out but is she all she seems?This is a very accomplished first novel and I loved it. Araminta Hall is very good at lulling the reader into thinking that this is a fairly ordinary story of family life, but underneath there is always this underlying tension that is revealed as the story progresses and we find out more about Agatha and her motivations. The author drops some quite shocking things into the everyday surburban life that she has created.It's a very quick and easy read, with excellent characterisations. I hope that the author writes more great reads like this in the future.