The Housemaid

The Housemaid: An absolutely addictive psychological thriller with a jaw-dropping twist Book By Freida McFadden

Millie is a young woman under 30 but already an ex-con. She has spent ten years in prison for murder. Now, she is out on parole and desperately looking for a job. She wants to start a normal life but has little money. She lives and sleeps in her car.

When Nina Winchester, a rich woman, reaches out to her, offering her a job as a live-in maid in her sprawling bungalow, Millie can hardly believe her luck. In addition, the salary is too good to refuse. Millie readily accepts the offer, believing that Nina has probably not done a proper background check, or else she wouldn’t have offered her a job, which includes taking care of her 9-year-old daughter.

The family consists of Nina, her daughter Cecilia and Andrew-Nina’s husband. And there is Enzo, the gardener, who is always busy and keeps to himself. Enzo only speaks Italian, and there is little chance of communicating with him.

Nina and Andrews live a life of luxury with two fancy cars and a beautiful house with a sprawling lawn. But the place that Millie is offered is a small attic on the top floor, where she is supposed to sleep after her day of work. It is a small, cramped room with little ventilation and a window that doesn’t open. Also, while there is no latch to close it from the inside, it can locked from the outside. Millie has a creepy feeling about the room and is also quite astonished that despite having such a huge space for themselves, they have so little to offer to a maid. She feels uncomfortable about the place but accepts it since it seems like an upgrade from her life of living and sleeping in a car.

From the day Mille starts working for the Winchesters, she observes strange things. Once Enzo warns her of danger in the house, it adds to Millie’s fears. She wonders what that means but has little chance of extracting more information from him.

Nina’s behaviour towards Mille is quite erratic. Sometimes, she is friendly and kind, and at other times, she becomes agitated and blames her for the mistakes she has not even made. She notices that Nina doesn’t care for her looks, eats without care about her health, shouts, yells and is unreasonable most of the time. Her daughter, Cecelia, seems to be the most spoilt brat to Millie. She is quite like her mother in many ways and takes pleasure in putting Mille through a lot of trouble. The bedrooms, bathrooms, and kitchen are perpetually in a mess, and Millie stays busy cleaning, cooking, and shopping for groceries for the family.

Millie notices that Andrew is quite patient. As the mother and daughter throw tantrums, he quietly tolerates everything. He seems to love Nina passionately and seems oblivious to her weird behaviour. Millie wonders why he is putting up with all this despite being rich, successful and handsome. He could very well leave them and live a life of happiness. Millie can’t help but empathise with him and feel sorry for his situation. Millie is also attracted to Andrew, but she wants no trouble. She wants to keep her distance and, at no cost, do anything that would make her lose her job.

Nina and Andrew desperately want another child, but after many unsuccessful attempts and a final visit to the clinic, in which they get to know that it’s never going to happen, the couple falls apart. Millie silently witnesses a big quarrel between them, after which things no longer stay the same.

This is the time when Andrew and Millie get attracted to each other. After spending a wonderful evening with Andrew, Millie starts imagining her life as Andrew’s wife, living a life of luxury. Nina makes it clear that she knows what is going on between them. Things get out of control one day, and Andrew, in a fit of anger, asks Nina to leave the house. Now, Millie takes Nina’s place in the house.

After this point, an unexpected turn of events happens. Does Millie live happily ever after with Andrew? Are things really how they seemed when Millie first came to this house? Did she gauge Nina and Andrew right?

The first part of the book is narrated from Millie’s perspective. Then comes Nina’s narration, which unveils the mystery surrounding the house, the cramped attic, the capricious wife, the spoilt child, the near-perfect husband and the silent, earnest gardener. Also, the reader learns more about Millie, the housemaid, and her past, which has shaped her character.

The story ends with unforeseen events that happen in quick succession. After many twists and turns, the mystery is resolved. The Housemaid Book is a fast-paced psychological thriller that keeps the reader hooked all the way till the end. For me, the highlight was the interaction between Nina and Andrews’s mother at the end of the book. It was quite unpredictable, and just when I thought the author was done with taking the reader through this roller coaster ride, it came as yet another jerk.

This is my first book of 2024, and I’ve surely made a great start with this page-turner. I recommend this book to people who love reading psychological thrillers.