 First edition cover | |
| Author | Freida McFadden |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Series | The Housemaid |
Release number | 1 |
| Genre | Psychological thriller |
| Set in | Long Island |
| Publisher | Bookouture |
Publication date | April 2022 |
| Media type | ebook |
| ISBN | 978-1-80314-437-5 |
| Followed by | The Housemaid's Secret |
The Housemaid is a 2022 psychological thriller novel by Freida McFadden. [1]
Millie is a young woman with a troubled past, having recently been fired from her job after an incident which nearly sent her back to prison. She is unable to find work, due to her criminal record, and spends a month living in her car. She jumps at an opportunity as a live-in housemaid for the wealthy Winchester family: Nina, her husband Andrew, and their daughter Cecelia, who live in a luxurious estate on Long Island. Their seemingly perfect life unravels when Millie discovers the Winchester household hides dark secrets beneath the surface.
Millie discovers that the room she is staying in locks from the outside. Enzo, the Winchesters' gardener, warns Millie about Nina. Based on prior interactions where Nina seemingly suffered psychotic breaks, Millie bonds with Andrew, and ultimately helps him tell Nina to leave the house. After Nina leaves with Cecelia, Millie prepares to settle in, only to discover while packing that Andrew has locked her in her room.
In a flashback, it is revealed that Andrew is a psychologically abusive husband to Nina, who forces her to undergo cruel punishments in a locked room - the same room Millie was staying in - if she does not act like how he wants. Nina tried to kill herself, but that gave Andrew even more leverage over her. Enzo realized the situation Nina was in but was unable to help her without arousing suspicion from Andrew. One day after seeing Millie's record, Nina decided to hire her as a housemaid, leaving a can of pepper spray in a bucket in the room.
It is revealed that Millie was imprisoned after fatally beating a fellow student who tried to rape her friend. Nina hired her because she believed that Millie could do what she could not: kill Andrew. Andrew forces Millie to perform a punishment, but after he goes in to give her water, she incapacitates him with the pepper spray and locks him in the room. From there, Millie forces Andrew to perform the same punishment and then rip out two of his teeth, before leaving him to die of thirst.
Nina comes back to the house and discovers Andrew dead. She tells Millie to flee and stays behind as the police arrive. However, police officer Ramirez ultimately dismisses the case as an accidental death, and after Andrew's funeral, Nina and Cecelia leave the house. Enzo and Millie form a group dedicated to helping women get out of abusive relationships.
McFadden wrote the novel in 2019 but abandoned it after sensing it was "a little too dark" and uncharacteristic of her earlier work. She was later approached by the British digital publishing company Bookouture, who offered to publish one of her books and promote it on their mailing list. She decided to give them The Housemaid, which they published on April 2022. [2] [3] The immediate success of the novel inspired McFadden to sign with an agent in late 2022 and search for a publisher to distribute her books in print. [2] Grand Central Publishing picked up the novel and published it in paperback on August 23, 2022. [4]
The New York Times reported that, shortly after publication, the book became a "monster hit". In their June 2024 profile of McFadden, the newspaper reported that the book sold more than two million copies and had been on Amazon's best-seller list for 83 weeks, and has spent 60 weeks on The New York Times trade paperback best-seller list. The novel's success also caused a surge in popularity for McFadden's earlier novels. [2]
In October 2024, The Washington Post reported that the book sold around 1.6 million print copies. [3]
The novel and The Housemaid series in general has amassed a large fanbase and readership partly due to attention from the BookTok community on TikTok, as well as discussion boards on Facebook and Goodreads. [3]
In France, The Housemaid sold more than 630,000 copies in 2024, according to GfK, and was the best-selling novel of the year. [5] In L'Express , Marianne Payot wrote, "Despite some longueurs and repetitions, The Housekeeper holds up. Thanks, in particular, to the cheekiness of its heroine". [6] In Libération , Thomas Stélandre wrote, "It has the fineness of a Stabilo, but it must be said that it is devoured like fast food, whether taken at face value or on a deeper level". The newspaper deemed the novel's main purpose to be entertainment and quoted an anonymous bookseller who offhandedly remarked that it was "a book for non-readers". [7]
In February 2023, Bookouture published a sequel novel, The Housemaid's Secret. In June 2024, the third book in the series, The Housemaid Is Watching, was published. [9] [10]
Film rights were acquired in July 2022 by Todd Lieberman's Hidden Pictures, in partnership with Lionsgate. [11] [12] In April 2023, Rebecca Sonnenshine was announced to adapt the screenplay. [13] In October 2024, Paul Feig was announced to direct with a cast of Sydney Sweeney (Millie) and Amanda Seyfried (Nina). [14] [15] Brandon Sklenar joined the cast as Andrew later that same month. [16]