Is this based on real people?

McLaughlin, Emma and Nicola Krauss. Nanny Returns. New York: Atria Books, 2009.

This follow-up to The Nanny Diaries is not for the easily exhausted. In it, Nan Hutchinson, who formerly wore herself out nannying for the obnoxious "X" family, is sucked again into their rich, ridiculous world while also battling with other rich people as an HR consultant for a posh school and plenty of regular people as a new homeowner wondering why her contractor won't put her stairs back in.

It's 2008 in the book, so the reader knows that these hedge-fund honchos and money (spending) mavens are in for a correction. But, gosh, they don't know it, as they go from one outrageous behavior (siding with students who create websites full of lies about their teacher) to another (faking cancer to deflect from a husband's issues). There's a Madoff-esque moment at the end when things come tumbling down; those who realize that people matter more than things have some hope of turning out okay.

Readers who are prone to getting stressed out about fictional characters' imaginary problems might want to sit this one out. Those who want to gawk at the car wreck of some materialistic lives and maybe learn some lessons as a result could do worse than to pick Nanny Returns up.

Rating: **