The Housemaid by Freida McFadden Series: The Housemaid #1
Published by Bookouture on April 1, 2022
Genres: Fiction / Family Life / General, Fiction / Literary, Fiction / Thrillers / Crime, Fiction / Thrillers / Domestic, Fiction / Thrillers / Psychological
Pages: 334
Format: Audiobook
Source: Libby, Library
"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...
An unbelievably twisty read that will have you glued to the pages late into the night. Anyone who loves The Woman in the Window, The Wife Between Us and The Girl on the Train won't be able to put this down!
Read what everyone's saying about The Housemaid:
"I could NOT put it down!... An incredible roller-coaster ride... This book left me hungry for more and I could not believe the ending!!" Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
"One wild ride!... So many twists and turns... I was hooked right away - I even read my Kindle while waiting in my kid's school pick-up line so I wouldn't have to put this book down!... addictive... pure perfection!" Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
"Terrific! Finished The Housemaid in one night, totally compulsively readable... the ending packs a wallop!" NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
"Wow what an amazing book! I couldn't put this down until the very last page... a perfect five stars. This one is by far my favorite book by this author yet." Bookishfirst, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
"I've yet to read a book by Freida McFadden that didn't blow me away! I finished this in one sitting, couldn't tear my eyes away... I did not see the plot twist coming at all! The ending was so satisfying but left me wanting even more." @bookscoffeemorebooks, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
My Review:
I took this book out of my library through the Libby App. I had heard so much about this story that my husband and I bought a copy for my mother-in-law this past Christmas. I am not even sure if she has read it yet or if she liked it. I myself was happy to get it through the library because I was not sure if I was even going to like it. Reader, I am sure you know what I am saying. Sometimes books are hyped up so much, but when you go to read them, they just fall flat. That, I confess, was my concern with this book, so onto Libby I went and put the book on hold until it became available to read. I am happy to say that I actually liked this story and have headed back to Libby to put a hold on the second in the series. Yes, did you know it is a series? The second book is out at the time I am writing this, and the third book is expected to be out this year.
In this story, we follow Millie, an ex-convict. She spent the last ten years of her life in prison, but we, as the reader, do not know why until we are well into the story. Millie is looking for a fresh start, and she desperately wants to move out of her vehicle. She has had jobs since being released from prison, but she has not been able to hold onto them. She eventually hears about a job working for the Winchester Family as a live-in housekeeper, cook, and caregiver to their child. This sounds too good to be true because Millie desperately needs a place to live, and she likes kids. I mean, what could possibly go wrong?
It is no shock to you, Reader I am sure that Millie does manage to get the job and moves in the next day. Nina Winchester welcomes her in and acts very normal, which puts Millie at ease. Everything seems to be perfect, with the exception of the house needing a really good tidying. She isn’t sure how the home had gotten so messy because when she interviewed, it was spotless. Not that much time has passed since she was hired. No matter, Millie takes her things up to her attic room with the tiny window that does not open and the door that locks from the outside without giving it too much thought. She has a job to do, and she wants to prove herself to this woman and show her she can do a good job. Millie wants Nina to like her enough so that she would not want to get rid of her because she NEEDS this job. Things are going well at first, but it isn’t long before Millie notices that things are just off. Something is not right, and she could swear Nina is a bit off. She is not the same woman who interviewed her and welcomed her the day that Millie came to the house. Something has changed.
As time goes on we see that Nina is not as put together as she would first appear. She is messy, unorganized, a bit disheveled, and possibly even a little bit crazy. She is repeatedly telling Millie things that are not true or even accusing her of things that she has not done. Millie is sure that Nina never said the things that she is claiming to of said. She is also certain that she is innocent of the things that Nina accuses her of. Millie is walking a very fine line because she is on probation and desperately wants to remain out of prison. All it would take is one call to the police with an accusation to send Millie back to the slammer.
If you are like me, Reader, then you are probably thinking, well, why in the heck does she keep putting up with it? I am not going to lie to you, by the middle point of this book, I was so fed up with this girl and her stupidity that I wanted to put the book down. I am happy to say that I continued, though, because suddenly, the book takes a huge turn, and we are now following Nina and her story. This, I am pleased to say, was the turning point for me in the story. This is the part that saved the book for me. Seriously, this was the saving grace for this book. There is no other way to say it than WOW. Nina and Andrew’s (her husband) story is just…Wow. I could not imagine living the way that poor Nina had to live and mind you, it was not just her; she also had her daughter there to worry about. I truly felt for her and found myself rooting for her to the very end.
The twists and turns that this book took me on truly had me shocked. It got to a point where I was unable to put the book down because I just had to know how it was going to end. I will admit this book was slow going in the beginning, and the stupidity of Millie’s character was getting to me, but I am glad the author wrote it the way she did. I liked the fact that we did not know Millie’s story until we got to Nina’s point of view, and then it all began to make sense. Everything. Even the fact that Nina hired her knowing she had a prison record. Reader, if you enjoy books with suspense, a bit of craziness, and revenge, then I think that you will enjoy this story. My question to you is, have you read anything by this author in the past? If so, what have you read, and how did you feel about it? I would love to hear your thoughts, so please let me know if you decide to pick this one up and your thoughts on it. Until Next Time, Reader, Happy Reading.
Trigger Warnings:
- Blood
- Cheating Spouse
- Sexual Assualt
- Murder
- Mentions of Depression
- Verbal Abuse
- Death of a Son
- Threats
- Mental Health Hospitalizations
- Drugging
- Hostages
- Torture
- Mentions of Delusions
- Physical Abuse
- Mentions of Suicide