“From behind closed doors, she sees everything.”
Title: The Housemaid
Author: Frieda McFadden
Pages: 329
Published by: Little, Brown Book Group (2023)
The Housemaid, by author and brain injury physician Frieda McFadden, is a psychological thriller that delights and frustrates in equal measure.
This is an intriguing read from the outset, with a plot that will undeniably entertain. But The Housemaid is let down by trite characters and underdeveloped ideas.
Still, McFadden’s first novel in the Housemaid series is an interesting read that will get chins wagging amongst friends and in book club circles.
The Housemaid in brief
Early on, the reader is introduced to Millie; an unassuming Brooklynite on the lookout for her next job, following a recent but unexplained firing.
Down on her luck — and not long out of prison — she happens upon a living-in housemaid role for the Winchesters, a wealthy New York family. It pays well, puts a roof over her head, and no questions are asked. But something is awry in this suburban setup.
The book starts slow, but grows gradually as family secrets are uncovered and Millie’s own past begins to emerge, creating a pressure cooker of tension between herself and the Winchesters. It’s a compelling setup — and I guarantee you’ll read this book in one or two sittings, such is the pace — but much like the plot itself, something isn’t quite right with The Housemaid.
We need to talk about Millie
McFadden writes The Housemaid from a first person present perspective (I am, I do not, e.t.c.) which is ideal for a mystery. The present tense is great for building tension, and seeing the plot unfold from one character’s perspective at a time allows the author to be really creative with revealing details.
However, the first person perspective has its flaws — especially if you cannot relate to or bear being with the main character. And to be fair, readers’ views will vary on this, but Millie is neither easy to love, nor strong enough to carry this novel. She lacks genuine depth — even following some bizarrely brief revelations — and feels like a mish-mash of caricatures. Indeed this could be levelled at most characters in The Housemaid, with perhaps the exception of Nina.
Taken at face value, Nina is a changeable and highly disturbed individual. This is curious in itself, but McFadden takes Nina’s depth of experience to a different level, granting her a level of intrigue not afforded to other characters in the novel.
The art of the page-turner
There is an art to creating a page-turner. It was arguably made famous by Dickens in the Victorian era, where publishing full books was expensive and so stories were published in daily or weekly newspaper serialisations.
It worked like this. The chapter would begin slowly, building gradually, before concluding with a blockbuster ending, whether a major plot revelation or change in the pacing of the story. You know the drill. Shorter sentences. Dramatic interludes. This would draw readers in and guarantee they pick up the next issue. Ultimately, it was a quid pro quo for both authors and newspapers.
This structure lives on in contemporary thrillers, and some of the better writers are able to disguise it well. The Housemaid delivers mixed results in this regard; with many chapters ending in an overly dramatic ‘Millie monologue’.
That being said, if writing a page-turner is indeed an art, then McFadden is undeniably a maestro. This 300ish page book can easily be read in a single sitting or two. It’s that gripping.
Conclusion
The Housemaid by Freida McFadden is a flawed but eminently readable thriller that would be suited perfectly for a beach or book club read.
It does, however, suffer from some mediocre character writing, a bevy of frankly silly narrative moments, and a convenient deus ex machina to resolve a particular plot point. It’s therefore quite a limited read, with a couple of twists to keep things interesting. However, The Housemaid is unlikely to be a book you’ll read more than once.
Readers’ views will inevitably differ, depending on their experience with the genre. Thriller enthusiasts may find they’ve read this book before, but for some that familiarity may be reassuring. For other perspectives, check out Luke Harkness’s glowing review and Literary Quicksand’s more critical reception.
I recommend The Housemaid, but with a handful of caveats.
