I know I’m pretty late to the party, but I finally read The Housemaid by Freida McFadden. It’s a NY Times bestseller, and it recently was made into a movie starring Amanda Seyfried and Sydney Sweeney.
And I thought that The Housemaid was just… all right.
What’s The Housemaid about?
The Housemaid is a psychological thriller about Millie, a recently released ex-convict who takes a job housekeeping at a rich couple’s fancy schmancy house. Millie’s new boss, Nina Winchester, dresses as perfectly as her pristine home, but she’s horribly rude toward Millie. Nina’s husband, Andrew, seems like a nice enough guy, but his attempts to defend Millie often take backseat to his wife’s cruel mood swings.
But, Millie’s determined to stick it out; she really doesn’t have any other options. So, she accepts that she has to sleep in a tiny locked room up in the attic. She accepts that she’s forbidden to walk around the house at night. She just tries to keep her head down and do her job.
It’s too bad that Millie’s determination to play by the rules goes out the door the minute she starts falling in love with Andrew.
What I liked about The Housemaid
I did appreciate the entertainment value of The Housemaid. McFadden’s a decent writer, and her prose is fast-paced and enjoyable. She’s good at building suspense and making you eager to find out what will happen next. I didn’t love the characters in the book, but I didn’t hate them either.
My favorite part about The Housemaid was the ending. (No, not because the reading experience was over.) It made me cackle with laughter.
What I didn’t like about The Housemaid
The main issue I had with this book is that it feels really derivative. Like, as I was reading, I kept thinking, Okay, been here, read that. The Housemaid felt like Gone Girl meets Verity meets Behind Closed Doors.
Since so many elements in The Housemaid mirrored what I’ve read in other books, I didn’t find the novel that suspenseful. Which is disappointing considering all the hype around this book and this author.
Should you read The Housemaid?
Give The Housemaid a chance if you’re looking for a quick read with lots of pulse-pounding moments. An entire series of Housemaid books sprang up from this first novel. So, obviously — a lot of people loved it. You might be one of those people.
However, if you’re an avid thriller reader, I think this one might let you down when it comes to sneaky twists and turns.
Should you watch The Housemaid movie?
Despite not loving The Housemaid, I did watch the movie. I’m normally in “Camp Book” when it comes to “Book vs Movie Adaptation”. But, I think I liked the movie version of The Housemaid better than the book.
I thought the adaptation was really well done, capturing all the highlights of the novel and molding them into a condensed version that’s entertaining and true to the original story. If you don’t want to read The Houseamaid, I think you can get all the best parts of the story from watching the movie.
What’s the book-inspired recipe?
At least I got a tasty recipe out of The Housemaid! Stay tuned for the book-inspired recipe: Steak au Poivre
