The Housemaid is a psychological thriller, written by Freida McFadden and published in 2022. Soon after its release it became viral amongst thriller fans on tik tok and youtube, even appealing to those who don’t typically enjoy thriller novels. It has often been compared to Colleen Hoover’s ‘Verity’ because of some similar topics that are discussed as well as some familiar circumstances.
It is dark and twisted in every way, while also covering topics such as domestic abuse and manipulation and how easy it is for people to assume those who live a good life on the outside also have a perfect life behind closed doors.
Storyline/ plot
The first half of the book is told from the perspective of ex-convict Millie, who is interviewing for the role of housemaid for a very high class family (the Winchesters). Throughout the interview things seem to be going well, earning Millie a tour of the home including the room she will be inhabiting during her time there, only thing is her bedroom door only locks from the outside. Millie, who is currently living out of her car is more than happy to take the freaky upgrade but can’t help but think her criminal record will hold her back, little does she know it actually gives her an advantage.
During her first few weeks she begins to notice Nina, the wife, is a little temperamental as well as her daughter being closer to the spawn of satan than any average little girl, but the Husband, Andrew, appears to be a ray of sunshine.
As things progress downhill for Millie she spends more of her free time in her bedroom, until one night when trying to leave she realizes the door has been locked from the outside, with no way out.
As things surrounding Nina’s past battles with mental health, a lot of strange happenings seem to be getting an explanation, just as her feelings for Andrew start to become less one sided than ever before.
After a night away in the city and seemingly oblivious Nina, things become a lot more sinister when Andrew tells his wife he’d like a divorce. After time passes Millie starts to wonder if Nina was ever really crazy in the first place…
Writing style
The majority of this book is told solely from Millie’s perspective but, as we get to the last quarter of the book we get a dual POV between Nina and Millie. Throughout Nina’s POV we start to see small details of her marriage with Andrew unwarp as well as how her alleged mental health issues started the possible triggers behind them. We see Millie starting to understand some of Nina’s behaviors all while trying to figure out how and why Andrew became not so perfect.
Pros/ cons
This book was incredibly detailed and meticulously planned out, so every single thing is done for a reason and every character plays a part that is incredibly crucial to the storyline, which is not often done well in thrillers. No stone was left unturned at the end of this book and it ended with the perfect segway into the second book in the series, with room to follow on some other scenarios from this novel. It was written perfectly and the timeline in the grand scheme of things was perfect when it came to building suspense towards the end of the novel.
Conclusion
This was a five star read for me personally, at the beginning I did find it a little slower than some thrillers I have previously read, but as I got to the end I realized that it was done intentionally to really feel the impact of the ending. I loved the storyline and thought it was so unique and interesting and not like many books I have read in the past. This book kept my attention and was such a quick easy read for me, and I can definitely see why this was one of the most hyped books of 2022. It does deal with some heavier topics so definitely check trigger warnings before reading.