R.I.P. Nanny Tobbins by Lucie Stevens

Title: R.I.P. Nanny Tobbins

Author: Lucie Stevens

Genre: Historical Fiction

Publisher: HarperCollins Australia

Published: 4^th June 2025

Format: Paperback

Pages: 304

Price: $18.99

Synopsis: A quirky and very funny middle-grade fantasy title that is perfect for fans of A Girl Called Corpse and Nevermoor.

When Nanny Tobbins fell off a horse and broke her neck, the grown-ups told nine-year-old Albertine she’d never see her beloved governess again. But it simply isn’t true. For every night, when the clock strikes twelve, Nanny returns to the nursery.

Yet in her new ghostly state, Nanny Tobbins quickly causes chaos in the household — and the timing couldn’t be more inconvenient. Albertine’s stepmother is struggling to settle in, and Papa is much occupied working with Prince Albert on the Great Exhibition.

To make matters worse, the grown-ups don’t believe in ghosts at all, leaving Albertine to take the blame for Nanny’s unruly antics.

How will Albertine restore peace to her home before the unthinkable occurs?

~*~

Nanny Tobbins has been Albertine’s governess ever since her mother died. That is, until the Terrible Incident when Nanny Tobbins fell off a horse and went away. Albertine is confused when all the grownups – Susan, Cook, her father, The Stepmother – tell her that she will never see Nanny Tobbins again.

Poor Albertine – she’s lost her mother, her governess and now she has a new stepmother who seems to hate her and have no interest in getting to know her at all. Who wants Papa all to herself. And Albertine is sure the grown-ups are lying about Nanny never coming back. She’s there, every night from midnight until dawn.

 But Nanny’s ghost causes chaos, and poor Albertine is being blamed for everything. The Stepmother has just arrived and is determined to turn Albertine into a child that nobody sees or hears, Papa is constantly being called away by the prince to help with the Great Exhibition, and nobody quite believes Albertine about the ghost and everything else. Except Susan, the maid, who is taking care of Albertine and her fried Blot, who works at the newspaper printer. Once she has them onside, Albertine feels she can work to restore peace to her home.

But will it work? And what will happen if she can’t convince Nanny to move on?

Lucie Steven’s debut middle grade novel is full of history, ghosts and mischief, as well as little nods to the brothers Grimm and their German fairy tales. Albertine Regina von Walblumen is a fun character, whose childlike wonder and understanding of the world is captured wonderfully in this book as she negotiates a dead nanny, a new nanny, a stepmother and a father who is always away. As the novel moves through Nanny Tobbins’s visits and lessons, Albertine’s world is constantly changing and shifting, because she wants to do the right thing by every adult in her life. She doesn’t want to make Papa mad, she wants the Stepmother to be nice to her, and she really doesn’t want to upset Nanny Tobbins. Nanny Tobbins doesn’t seem to be aware that she is dead, or maybe she just can’t accept it. She brings the ghostly world into Albertine’s real world, merging the two to create a novel of humour and chaos into a world that is usually very ordered and sensible. Quiver, Albertine’s faithful dog, is along for the ride as Albertine tries to find out what Nanny Tobbins wants, and how to convince her she is a ghost!

Ghosts seem to be popular in middle grade these days, and they’re not always spooky either. They might be spooky enough for some readers, but they’re also chaotic beings that bring something different to middle grade. They give the novels they’re in a taste of whimsy and magic, but in a different way to many other fantasy novels, showing that there are many ways to write a fantasy novel. Ghost stories have always been something people have enjoyed, so it’s lots of fun to see the different ways people come up with them and add to the range of ghost stories. With all the ones out there to choose from written by fabulous Australian authors, there’s sure to be something for everyone.

The chaos is hilarious but at the same time, the kind of mischief you know is going to lead somewhere not quite so good. This was handled exactly as I expect in a kid’s book, where the fears and worries of the child are involved. I kept cheering for Albertine though, so determined to do the right thing for everyone. She is such a wonderful character, full of whimsy and wonder whose adventure was fun to follow. I liked that she was smart, that she questioned things, and had a child’s wonder and curiosity about her. She brought the world of Victorian England and how some people spoke to children about death to life, and showed that sometimes, adults need to learn things too. Learning is a lifelong journey, and there will always be something to discover. There is something special within this novel, as a family rebuilds and comes together, as the things that threaten to tear them apart are carefully mended by Albertine, who is quite suited to the setting, but she is also a perky character who knows her own mind and is interested in a great many things.

R.I.P. Nanny Tobbins also deals with change – The Stepmother coming in and changing things and refusing to get to know her new stepdaughter – she epitomises the evil stepmothers of fairytales at first, with her own secrets and expectations that may not always fit into her new home. Everyone has to adjust, and I loved Albertine’s relationships with Susan, Cook and Blot, proving that her world had a great many people she could count on. This is a fantastic novel, that has promise for more to come, as well as being a great standalone novel. I am looking forward to seeing if there is more to come about Albertine and Nanny Tobbins.