Review: The Housemaid by Freida McFadden — An easy-to-digest page-turner
An excellent, twisty-turny popcorn read.
The Housemaid by Freida McFadden: The key details
- Publish date: 26th April 2022
- Genre: Thriller
- Publisher: Penguin
- Series/standalone: #1 of 3
- No. of pages: 338
Blurb: “Welcome to the family,” Nina Winchester says as I shake her elegant, manicured hand. I smile politely, gazing around the marble hallway. Working here is my last chance to start fresh. I can pretend to be whoever I like. But I’ll soon learn that the Winchesters’ secrets are far more dangerous than my own…
Every day I clean the Winchesters’ beautiful house top to bottom. I collect their daughter from school. And I cook a delicious meal for the whole family before heading up to eat alone in my tiny room on the top floor.
I try to ignore how Nina makes a mess just to watch me clean it up. How she tells strange lies about her own daughter. And how her husband Andrew seems more broken every day. But as I look into Andrew’s handsome brown eyes, so full of pain, it’s hard not to imagine what it would be like to live Nina’s life. The walk-in closet, the fancy car, the perfect husband.
I only try on one of Nina’s pristine white dresses once. Just to see what it’s like. But she soon finds out… and by the time I realize my attic bedroom door only locks from the outside, it’s far too late. But I reassure myself: the Winchesters don’t know who I really am. They don’t know what I’m capable of…
The Housemaid by Freida McFadden: The review
I’ve had The Housemaid in my library for almost a year, and I’m so glad I finally decided to read it. In short, I loved it. This is the first book in a long time I’ve read in less than 24 hours: to hell with being productive and getting work done, because I simply could not put this down!
Part of that is down to Freida’s effortless writing style which makes each page so easy to devour. Not that this is simple prose; it’s just very easy digestible — which, for this type of thriller, is exactly what you want. It’s popcorn fiction at its best: just as well it’s getting turned into a movie this year. Oh yes: if you haven’t read it yet, you’ve got until the end of the year before it’s on the big screen. I can’t wait!
The Housemaid starts by introducing us to Millie. She’s just lost her job and she can’t believe her luck when she manages to land new employment as a nanny and housekeeper at the Winchesters’ fancy home. But something immediately feels “off”, not least Nina Winchester’s foul moods which frequently seem to be unfairly directed at Millie. Thankfully for Millie, Nina’s husband Andrew seems much nicer — although the crush Millie has on him can’t be good.
But The Housemaid isn’t a seedy romance about a maid who hooks up with her employer. I love that there’s suggestion of that in the first half of the book, but just you wait: this book goes places, and it’s not the places you will think. The first half of the book convinced me that Nina was the worst character ever written (in the best sort of way: she literally made my skin crawl). But the second half? Well, saying anything else would be a huge spoiler.
Let’s just say there are several “oh my god” moments, and I certainly didn’t see all the twists and turns coming. If you’re yet to read The Housemaid by Freida McFadden yet, pick it up. It’s an incredible page turner, and now I can’t wait to read the rest of the series.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This review is based on a retail Kindle edition that I purchased myself.
