After reading Freida McFadden’s The Locked Door, I immediately dove into another one of her books. The Housemaid is about Millie, a young woman newly sprung from prison, who becomes a maid for a wealthy family. This is a thriller, so you know….things happen. Things I can’t reveal because it takes away the fun.
Like The Locked Door, I read The Housemaid in a matter of hours. I scarfed them down like so much junk food. McFadden is a strong story teller, and her pacing is impeccable. There are no useless side trips and all the twists and tricks are both surprising and logical. McFadden reminds me a little of Jeffrey Deaver of old, with his clever plots and meticulously laid out stories. Although the last book of Deaver’s I read featured someone getting eaten by an escalator, so his heyday has done passed.
McFadden has a feminist sensibility. It’s not only that women are at the center of her stories, they are strong and clever. Women’s empowerment is dark and interesting. It was gratifying to read complex women characters.
If McFadden’s books have any fault, it is that they are empty calories. I just read The Locked Door and I already have forgotten half of it. I suspect it will be much the same for The Housemaid. But I care not—after reading a bunch of Charles Bukowski poems whinging about women, it was nice to enjoy some cotton candy feminist suspense.
