Why might Helen have stayed away for four decades? Do you think she had a happy life as a nanny?

Helen attributes her wanderlust to her deceased mother's unfulfilled wishes to travel, but why else might she have stayed away for four decades? Do you think she had a happy life as a nanny?

It does seem like Helen had more reason to stay abroad than her mother’s unfulfilled ambition to travel. Her sister in law might have had something to do with her decisions.

The first half of the book had me thinking Helen stayed overseas because she enjoyed being a nannie in Europe and it enabled her to easily experience so many aspects of a European lifestyle. But the last half of the story changed my mind and made me believe that family dynamics and tension influenced her decision to stay far away from her brother and sister-in-law.
Helen seemed to enjoy being a nanny, at least until Brigitta was taken. I think she understandably lost her love for being a nanny after she felt she contributed to Brigitta being taken away. Although she tried to channel her energy into helping others avoid the same fate as Brigitta, distance, prolonged travel time and family tension seemed like the lesser of all evils with regard to her decision to return to the United States after she’d finished living in Europe.

I wondered a lot about Helen's decision to stay in Europe. She seemed to love her brother, but not enough to remain near to him. I think the coldness of her sister-in-law had a lot to do with that.

She seemed to have been disappointed in her own romantic relationships, and to have sublimated her maternal instincts into caring for other people's children. Yet, her relationship with Brigitta was different, because she felt a special closeness with her and her special needs.

I think it just worked for her to stay in Europe. She had a good life there and knew if she returned it would not be easy to deal with her sister-in-law.

It seemed she was happy caring for her charges whilst in Europe, until, of course, Brigitta was taken. Returning to the United States created tension dealing with her sister-in-law.

I think she did enjoy her work as a nanny and did love her brother. But having to contend with Celine was just too much.

I feel like Helen was able to create a life for herself in Europe in a way she had not been able to do in the US. Her whole network of friends and professional contacts was in Europe, and it was probably scary to consider uprooting that to return to a country where she had very little family and friends.