I was in a reading “glut”… had picked up a heavy book on geopolitics to read and kept checking several news items that it referred to. In the process, I couldn’t move ahead quickly and actually read the book. That’s when I looked for a fiction book in Kindle Unlimited, that will get me over this hump.
I found “The Housemaid” by Freida McFadden and downloaded it. Finished reading it in a couple of days and got my reading mojo back :).
The Housemaid
It’s an interesting book, but am not sure if it’s “addictive” as the reviews suggest. I also won’t categorise it under “psychological thriller” because it was obvious right from the beginning that what you see in the Winchester house, is not what you get.
Everyone seems to have a back story ! The book is well paced and well written. So it’s a great read, especially for book worms who are in a reading glut like me.
The story begins with the housemaid “Millie” who is desperately looking for a job because she is basically homeless and is living in her car. Millie interviews with Nina Winchester and despite all her apprehensions about her prison time, she gets the job. The house is beautiful and Nina lives there with her handsome husband Andrew and her daughter Cecelia.
Millie is given a room in the attic which surprisingly has a latch and lock outside, and no way of opening it from the inside. As Millie starts working in the Winchester household, she realises that Nina is high strung, her daughter is very difficult to get along with … the only “nice” person is Andrew. She hangs on to the job out of desperation and decides that she will quit when she has saved enough.
Andrew gets increasingly involved with Millie and soon, Andrew and Nina’s marriage is on the rocks. Nina is asked to leave the house. The first twist comes at this point. As soon as Nina is out of the house, Andrew becomes a monster ! He locks up Millie in the attic room and punishes her for small transgressions with strange outlandish requests. Finally Millie manages to lock Andrew into the attic room and she punishes him.
At this stage we read about Nina’s side of the story … Andrew is the mentally sick one and he manages to convince everyone around that Nina is unhinged. Bringing in Millie was Nina’s way of finding a way out.
There is Enzo, the gardener with his own sob story and except for every woman in the novel wanting to sleep with him, I didnt see what his role was :(. Totally wasted character, unless the author plans on bringing him back meaningfully in the sequels.
Anyway the final twist is, both Millie and Nina gain freedom from Andrew and go their separate ways with enough money to live comfortably. Millie is offered another job as a housemaid, much recommended by Nina….
Well, the basic message is what you see is not what you get ! That’s true in life and particularly with the rich and famous. So beware, and be very careful when you find someone almost “perfect” with seemingly no flaws.
My rating – 3/5. Meets the expectation of a quick one time read and a good enough storyline.
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