It is hard to figure out what to say or think about this slim book of barely 100 pages. I liked it? But not well enough to give it 4-stars? (I almost gave it 4 stars then decided it just didn't quite have that frisson of reading pleasure I think a 4 star book needs.) That doesn't explain very much. Since I struggled to find my own words to piece together what I felt about this, I decided to cut & paste lines from other reviews that resonated with me.

"This quirky, dream-like tale is akin to an exotic and erotic fairy tale for adults."

"There are clearly subtexts going on in the tale, but I was uncertain what they actually were."

"It's like a science fiction version of Mary Poppins meets Brigadoon meets the Nanny. I still have no idea what this book was about."

"By turns dreamy and campy. But beneath the sex romp lurks a healthy dose of materialist philosophy and existential dread"

"But one of the novel's point seems to be that the governesses, for all their apparent control over the men in the story, lack autonomy (the 'clockwork toys' of an earlier quote), and exist mainly in the male gaze."