The Housemaid by Freida McFadden

The one that started it. The Housemaid took Freida McFadden from a well-regarded thriller writer to a name people recommend in whispers, and it is still the best entry point to her work.

The setup

Millie takes a live-in housekeeping job with the wealthy Winchester family. The house is immaculate, the pay is generous, and the door to her attic room locks from the outside. Nina Winchester is erratic, her husband Andrew is charming, and Millie has a history she has not disclosed. Somewhere around the midpoint the book turns over completely.

What to expect

• Short chapters engineered to prevent you putting it down
• A first-person narrator whose account you should hold loosely
• A structural reversal that recontextualises everything preceding it
• A standalone story, though it has since gained sequels

Who it’s for

Readers of Gillian Flynn, Ruth Ware and B. A. Paris, BookTok thriller readers, and anyone wanting a single-sitting book for a flight or a weekend.

Edition details

• Author: Freida McFadden
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
• Format: Paperback
• ISBN: 9781538742570
• Language: English

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