# The Housemaid *A 2022 psychological thriller by Freida McFadden.* > I did not read this novel for this note. It is in copyright. The facts below come from Wikipedia's articles on the novel and its author, the Hachette Book Group title page, two interviews with McFadden, and the vault's three Alyssa Matesic video notes. The plot account is Wikipedia's, and it spoils the ending. ## 1. Book facts | | | |---|---| | Title | *The Housemaid* | | Author | Freida McFadden (pen name of Sara Cohen) | | First publisher | Bookouture (a British digital publisher), ebook, April 2022 (Wikipedia; Open Library gives 26 April 2022) | | Print publisher | Grand Central Publishing, paperback, 23 August 2022 (Wikipedia) | | ISBN | 9781538742570 (Grand Central paperback, from the [Hachette title page](https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/freida-mcfadden/the-housemaid/9781538742570/) URL); 978-1-80314-437-5 is the Bookouture ebook (Wikipedia infobox) | | Pages | 336 (Hachette title page) | | Series | *The Housemaid*, book 1; followed by *The Housemaid's Secret* (2023) and *The Housemaid Is Watching* (2024) | | Setting | Long Island, New York | | Audiobook | Not checked; the audiobook field is left false | | Adaptation | 2025 film directed by Paul Feig, with Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried; released 19 December 2025 | **Where it came up.** - [This Plot Theory Will Change How You Write Forever](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSIq-4u7-60&t=301s), Alyssa Matesic, 5:01: used as her example of a "huddling plot". Vault note: [[Video Summaries/Alyssa Matesic/This Plot Theory Will Change How You Write Forever]]. - [If I Read One More Villain Like This… (5 Characters We Need to Banish)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-i4PpLWReA&t=66s), Alyssa Matesic, 1:06: criticises its psychopath-husband twist. Vault note: [[Video Summaries/Alyssa Matesic/If I Read One More Villain Like This… (5 Characters We Need to Banish)]]. - [I'm an Editor. Please Don't Take Freida McFadden's Writing Advice](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0lB7bAOH9E), Alyssa Matesic, 0:00: names it as McFadden's mega-bestseller while pushing back on her "just publish it" advice. Vault note: [[Video Summaries/Alyssa Matesic/I’m an Editor. Please Don't Take Freida McFadden's Writing Advice]]. ## 2. Book resources - [Wikipedia: The Housemaid (novel)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Housemaid_(novel)); [Freida McFadden](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freida_McFadden) - [Hachette Book Group title page](https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/freida-mcfadden/the-housemaid/9781538742570/) **Where to get it (legal, free).** No legal free full text located; it is in copyright. Borrow it from a public library or buy it. I did not check library holdings or lending copies. ## 3. Author biography Freida McFadden is the pen name of Sara Cohen, born 1 May 1980 in New York City. Per Wikipedia she studied mathematics at Harvard, attended medical school at Stony Brook, and works as a physician (Wikipedia: neurologist; her Writer's Digest bio: a practicing physician specializing in brain injury). She began self-publishing under the McFadden name with *The Devil Wears Scrubs* (2013) and has published about 30 novels. Wikipedia says *The Housemaid*'s success led her to sign with an agent in late 2022. Source: [Wikipedia: Freida McFadden](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freida_McFadden). ## 4. Author interviews and talks - [Freida McFadden: On Writing a Long First Draft](https://www.writersdigest.com/be-inspired/freida-mcfadden-on-writing-a-long-first-draft), Writer's Digest, 2022: about the writing of *The Housemaid* (page opened; I read only its summary and bio). - [Freida McFadden talks about the Housemaid series and 'The Boyfriend'](https://web.archive.org/web/20241102184307/https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2024/10/24/freida-mcfadden-housmaid-interview/), The Washington Post, 24 October 2024 (archived copy; opening read). She says she rarely makes public appearances and finds the spotlight "hard". ## 5. Summary **Thesis.** Wikipedia describes a psychological thriller in which a young woman with a criminal record takes a live-in housekeeping job with a wealthy Long Island family and finds that the household is not what it seems. The book is built on a mid-story reversal of who is the victim. **Outline (Wikipedia; spoilers).** The sources give no chapter list. - **Setup.** Millie Calloway, out of prison and living in her car, becomes the live-in maid for Nina and Andrew Winchester and their daughter Cecelia. Her attic room locks from the outside. The gardener Enzo warns her of "danger". Nina is erratic and cruel; Andrew seems kind, and Millie and Andrew sleep together. - **Turn.** Andrew locks Millie in the attic. Nina's perspective then shows that Andrew has abused her for years, that he staged an attempted murder-suicide to have her committed, and that she hired Millie, whose record includes killing a boy who tried to rape her friend, to take her place and perhaps stop him. - **Ending.** Millie traps Andrew in the attic, where he dies of dehydration. A detective rules it accidental. Nina and Cecelia leave. A year later Millie, now helping women leave abusive relationships, meets a new would-be employer who has a bruise on her arm. **Key ideas.** The unreliability of first impressions of the wife and husband; domestic abuse and coercive control; the power imbalance of live-in work. Wikipedia reports that France's press called the book entertainment first: Libération described it as "devoured like fast food". ## 6. Fact-check Overall verdict: **supported**. Matesic's descriptions of the plot match Wikipedia's account; her judgements (the twist is flat, the husband is "just evil") are opinion. | Claim | Verdict | Evidence | |---|---|---| | The reveal is that the husband had abused his wife for years and she hired the housemaid to escape him (Matesic) | Supported | Wikipedia plot: Andrew abuses Nina; she hires Millie | | Millie takes a live-in job and the threat closes in (huddling plot) | Supported | Wikipedia plot | | The twist is a letdown / the husband is a one-dimensional "psychopath" | Opinion; not testable | The video's own verdict | | *The Housemaid* (2022) became a series and a 2025 film | Supported | Wikipedia: sequels in 2023 and 2024; film released 19 December 2025 | | McFadden self-published her first novel in 2013 and signed with an agent only after *The Housemaid* | Supported (secondary) | Wikipedia on McFadden and the novel | | Sold more than two million copies (by June 2024) | Unverified | Wikipedia attributes it to The New York Times; I did not open the NYT | | Film grossed $306 million worldwide | Discrepancy | The novel's article says $306 million; the author's article says almost $400 million | | Page count and date | Discrepancy | Hachette: 336 pages (paperback); Open Library gives the same page count for a 26 April 2022 Bookouture record | ## 7. Citations and references - [Wikipedia: The Housemaid (novel)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Housemaid_(novel)); [Freida McFadden](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freida_McFadden) - [Hachette Book Group title page](https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/freida-mcfadden/the-housemaid/9781538742570/) - [Writer's Digest](https://www.writersdigest.com/be-inspired/freida-mcfadden-on-writing-a-long-first-draft); [The Washington Post (archived)](https://web.archive.org/web/20241102184307/https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2024/10/24/freida-mcfadden-housmaid-interview/) - Videos: [This Plot Theory…](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSIq-4u7-60); [If I Read One More Villain…](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-i4PpLWReA); [Please Don't Take Freida McFadden's Writing Advice](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0lB7bAOH9E)