PositiveNecessary FictionWu paints a vivid and three-dimensional portrait of white Manhattan elitism. While she doesn’t shy away from showing the ways in which the Adriens and those in their social circle condescend to and exploit Willa, Wu also depicts moments of genuine connection between Willa and the Adriens, particularly Bijou. Rather than caricaturing the white employers as overtly racist, Wu emphasizes how the Adriens’ prejudices are (seemingly) \'neatly tucked away\' yet manifest themselves in more insidious, subtle ways. Wu is adept at showing how these racist microaggressions intersect with class boundaries ... Wu’s descriptions of Willa’s life as a nanny capture her loneliness and sharp longing ... While Wu shades Willa’s life as a nanny with nuance and ambiguity, the family flashbacks chart a less convincing and perhaps overly linear progression. Because Willa’s dad has remarried and has two new kids, Willa now seeks a family of her own; because Willa’s mother was often unstable and absentminded, Willa now craves a connection with Nathalie, who is such a capable mother to Bijou. I couldn’t help but wish that these connections were less obvious, given how adeptly Wu explores the gray zones of belonging and exclusion elsewhere ... succeeds admirably at depicting Willa’s journey as she grapples with multiple mixed identities. The ending was especially lovely in its understatedness; Wu draws the novel to a conclusion that feels inevitable — tender, melancholic, self-reflexive, and quietly poignant. In other words, it feels like growing up.